When is Now?
by 8BonnieBlue8
Summary: Life with the A.I Gang is relatively normal, that is until Cordy gets a vision of Faith in hospital. Now they have to learn how to deal with her condition, and how to cure it. There's just one problem: Not everyone's so sure they want to. Fangel pairing.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own either Buffy or Angel; they both belong to the fabulous Joss Whedon.

A/N: This takes place around about Angel season five. Only they don't own Wolfram & Hart, Cordelia never went evil and died and Spike never came back. The amulet that he wore was found by the A.I gang after a lot of research, it was never given by Wolfram & Hart. Connor's pretty much irrelevant in this story so don't ask me where he is, I might put him in later on though.

Angel eyed the book in front of him critically. Wesley had mentioned that he was going to give him a book for some light reading, something to keep him occupied. He forgot to mention that the book was 2345 pages long and was a recount on history – light reading indeed.

The vampire with a soul sighed and kicked back in his seat. God it had been a slow couple of weeks, Cordy hadn't got a vision since last month and all L.A.'s night life seemed to be hanging low. It was unbelievably boring. What he wouldn't give right about now for a good vision.

No sooner had the thought popped into his head then there came a scream from out in the lobby. Without a moment's hesitation he sprang to his feet, nearly knocking over the glass of pig's blood on the desk, and rushed out the office door. He found Wesley and Gunn supporting a shaky Cordelia who was groaning in pain as she held her head. He had clearly missed the passing vision.

"bout time the Powers started getting their asses in ta gear," Gunn commented. "I think I was bout to die from boredom."

Angel was inclined to agree with him, although from the look on Cordelia's face she obviously thought otherwise.

"What did you see?" Wesley asked gently.

Cordelia locked gazes with Angel, her eyes solemn. "Faith. She's in hospital."

Everyone's eyes widened in shock and Angel nearly fell over.

"What do you mean? What happened to her?"

"Are you sure it was 'er, 'cause I mean there's gotta be a lot of people out there who look like 'er? Plus slayer, means they don't usually end up in hospitals-"

"Did you see what happened to her? Was it a demon? Because if it was it must have been pretty powerful to take down a slayer, I'll have to look into it, certainly."

"- also, Faith not so much liking the hospitals."

"Was it an L.A. hospital? What is Faith doing in L.A.? Why hasn't she come and seen me yet?"

"Perhaps it's to do with some new impending apocalypse; it is a Tuesday after all. Yes, I believe I will have to look into this, what did you say the demon looked like again?"

"What's she doing in L.A. anyhow? I thought she was off seeing the world with that Wood guy. Did yah see him too?"

"Wait...she's not in another coma is she?" Angel began slowly. "Because Faith and coma's are just...not good."

"Who's in a coma?" Fred asked, entering the lobby.

"Faith," Gunn supplied.

"Faith's in a coma?"

"God I hope not," Angel muttered.

"Cordelia had a vision," Wesley supplied.

"She did? Finally?"

Gunn nodded. "The Powers that Be finally got their asses in ta gear."

"And she saw Faith in a coma? Oh my god is she OK? What can we do? Was there a demon?"

"We're not too sure. I suspect it has something to do with an upcoming apocalypse, certainly calls for research immediately."

"What is up Jelly Babies?" Lorne asked, entering with a smile.

"Faith's in a coma."

"Kitten's in a coma?"

Fred nodded.

"What? How did that happen?"

"She was attacked by some demon that's going to bring about the apocalypse – Cordy had a vision."

"So the PTB finally sent our golden girl a vision. What'd you see?"

"We need to go to her," Angel muttered. "Cordelia did you see the demon that attacked her?"

"It would have had to be big to bring down a slayer, especially one like Faith."

"I say we go out there and kick its ass – assuming it has one to kick. Does it have one to kick?"

"If it doesn't we can just kick it somewhere else. Every monster can be kicked," the vampire pointed out.

"Except the First," Fred corrected him.

"Except the First."Angel's eyes suddenly widened. "It wasn't the First was it?"

"Hell no, we already kicked that ass," Gunn exclaimed.

"Actually, I think that was more Buffy and the rest of the Scoobies who did that," Fred said, brightly.

"Yeah well, I helped. No way could they have done it without me," Angel grumbled.

"Yes, well, I highly doubt it's the First...still merits investigation though."

"Yeah, I'll get Willow on the phone right away," Fred said.

"I'll start on the research," Wesley said, starting towards his office.

"And I better go see how Faith is," Angel told them, starting to head out of the lobby.

"I'll come with you Angelcakes, you never know when you need someone to sing."

"I'm gonna talk to some contacts of mine, see whether they know anything," Gunn also preparing to leave.

Cordelia who had been watching the exchange incredulously for the past four minutes finally lost it. "EVERYBODY HOLD IT!"

The demons and the three people came to a screeching halt, swinging around to look at Cordelia, stunned. For their part they didn't flinch at the fierce look in the brunette's eyes, although Lorne was looking like an apocalypse right now might be a little better than facing the seer's wrath, he was probably right too.

"Have you all forgotten who in this room actually saw what happened, who was the actually vision receive- e?!" she demanded. " 'CAUSE IT CERTAINLY WASN'T YOU FIVE!"

They all had the decency to look embarrassed and Angel moved to speak.

"Uh, um-"

"I say two words. Two simple words! And then all of a sudden you've concluded that Faith was attacked by some extremely powerful demon and is now in a coma, the world's ending and the First is back. TWO SIMPLE WORDS! HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?"

"Well, uh, you see, there's a very good explanation I assure you. And, it um, well..." the vampire trailed off at the former cheerleader's glare. "That was a rhetorical question wasn't it?"

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Look, I know things have been a bit slow lately but inventing your own apocalypse, isn't that a bit far?"

Everyone shifted uncomfortably and Cordy's eyes raked over them. "Now are you ready to find out what actually happened?"

"Quite," Wesley said, taking a seat along with Fred who was blushing beyond belief.

There was pause in which everyone else nodded under her appraising stare. After a while Angel cleared his throat.

"So, um, what'd you see?"

"Well first of all, no demon, no apocalypse and no First."

"No coma?" the vampire asked helpfully.

"Sorry Tall, Dark and Broody, there's coma. It's a drug induced one though, she should be awake soon," Cordy told him.

He sighed in relief before his expression took on one of concern. "What happened to her?"

"She was chasing a demon and got ran over by a bus–" the brunette's face screwed up at the memory "– looked real painful. That's all I know though . . . Funny, usually I only get visions of people getting attacked by demons, not buses."

"That is strange," Wesley agreed. "Perhaps there's some hidden meaning. Then again it could just be because you're close to Faith and that in her time of need she was able to call out to you."

Angel ignored this. "But she's OK, right?"

Cordelia sighed, in truth she didn't know the answer to that, visions only went so far after all, so she wrote down an address on the back of an envelope.

"Why don't you go find out yourself," she said, handing it to him.

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Angel looked in on the hospital room through the window, concern plastered clear across his face. In the centre of the room was a white bed that held an unconscious brunette. He couldn't help but think about how fragile and helpless she looked, her pale angelic face surrounded by a halo of silken brown hair giving off a very innocent appearance, she looked young. It shocked Angel to realize that he didn't even know how old the dark slayer was, he wondered whether anyone did. He doubted it.

According to the doctor the only injuries she really had (much to the doctor's bafflement) was a fractured arm and some head trauma. It was the head trauma that worried Angel, last time she had had that she'd been in a coma for 8 months. Even if the doctor had assured him that this wasn't the case and she was only in a drug induced coma to help her, he still couldn't help but worry. Seeing her there, so much like when she had been in her first coma, a part of him couldn't help but think that she may never wake up.

It was ridiculous, he knew that, but it was still there.

Shaking his head vehemently he entered the room and took up a seat beside the unconscious Faith's bed side. Looking down at her still form he couldn't help but think back to the last time he'd seen her.

"_So, you and the principle are heading out?" Angel asked leaning on the balcony beside Faith, the same place they'd both been last time they'd said goodbye._

_The brunette nodded. "Going to do a little world seeing, B offered me a place in Rome with her and the Pint Size, almost accepted it too." _

"_Why didn't you?"_

"_Not ready for that yet I guess – too many old wounds ready to come undone."_

_He nodded in understanding. "So you decided to take a trip with Wood. What happened to your whole 'Get Some, Get Gone' routine?"_

_Faith smirked at him. "Still got it, Robin tried to convince me otherwise though. Almost did, but I think I can only ever be his friend. His great company though, 's never judged me on the whole turning evil thing, it's a rare thing to find, and I'm grateful for it."_

"_Me too," Angel agreed, looking down at her. "You deserve it."_

"_Maybe," she agreed, and then shook her head. "I don't think I'll ever deserve it though."_

_Angel looked down at her, the girl that had both seen and done so much, had faced so much. And knew that this wasn't true, knew it better than anything else he had ever known._

"_That's not true and you know it."_

"_Isn't it?"_

_She sounded so helpless; it was something that he hardly ever got to see. He didn't know whether he hated it or whether he cherished the fact that Faith allowed him to see it._

"_No."_

_And that's when it happened, how it happened he'd never know though. One moment they were staring at each other and the next they were kissing. Who had started the kiss was a mystery, he suspected it may have been him but he couldn't be sure. All he could think about was the feel of Faith's lips against his own, slowly massaging them._

_Eventually they both had to pull away for air. And then, well, to put it simply, they both freaked._

Angel sighed, coming out of the memory. Neither of them had known what to think of that, it had been so spontaneous. In the end they had just avoided each other until she left and as much Angel tried to tell himself that it had been a mistake and that he didn't think that way about Faith, he'd hardly been able to get her out of his head since.

"Angel?"

The vampire nearly fell out of his seat in surprise before he turned to look at who had spoken. Faith blinked at him, trying to clear the cobwebs from her mind.

"It's me," he said, watching her in concern.

The brunette frowned in confusion. "What are you doing here – where _is_ here?"

"You're in a hospital in L.A.; you were attacked by a demon."

Faith's confusion deepened. "L.A.? What the hell am I doing in L.A.? And where's B and the rest of the Scoobies?"

Now it was Angel's turn to look confused. "Buffy and Dawn are in Rome, remember? And Xander's in Africa, Giles is England and Willow and Kennedy are in Brazil."

Faith's eyes widened. "What are they doing there? What happened to Sunnydale, I just saw G-man in the library?!"

'OK Angel, don't freak out, she's just joking around, that's it just joking around. Oh who am I kidding?' he thought to himself.

"Faith what year is it?" He asked, dreading the answer.

The slayer looked at him as if he were in insane. "1999, why?"

Oh crap.

A/N: So what do you think? Reviews are much appreciated even if they're just to point out something bad.


	2. Wait, what!

Disclaimer: I do not own either Buffy or Angel; they both belong to the fabulous Joss Whedon

Angel sighed and leaned back in his chair, 1999, what he wouldn't give to forget that year.

OK, how do you tell someone that they're missing like five years of their life? Looking at Faith now, it wasn't going to be easy.

"Faith, it's not 1999. It's 2005," he told her, trying to gauge her reaction (yeah, real smooth, Angel, real smooth).

The brunette's eyes widened and shook her head as if trying to deny it. Well at least she hadn't shot him that was something, right?

"2005?" she asked, as if unable to comprehend the word.

Angel nodded, watching her carefully.

"And I'm in L.A.?"

Once again he nodded. "Um, what's the last thing you remember doing?"

Faith shrugged. "Annoying Giles in the library."

"Ah." OK, now he had to figure out whether he was talking to good Faith or bad Faith. "Have you come across a demon named Balthazar?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "No, should I have?"

Angel waved it away, glad that he wasn't dealing with evil Faith. "Just something you run into later on, nothing important."

There was a long awkward pause, finally broken by Faith.

"So, anyone dead?" she asked bluntly, causing Angel to nearly fall out of his chair in surprise.

"Um, Joyce died about three years ago. Other than that no-one that you know, well not yet anyway."

"Oh," Faith said, suddenly looking dejected.

"Buffy died too," Angel said.

"Oh," Faith said again.

"But she came back," he told her quickly, realizing that he probably should have said that earlier.

Faith raised an eyebrow. "She does that a lot, doesn't she."

"Her bestest hobby," he said with forced cheerfulness.

"So I see. Anything else happen?"

Angel could see they were in for a long talk.

"So, let me get this strait," Faith said as her and Angel got out of the car.

The hospital, after some persuasion, had found no reason to keep Faith with them, as her arm had almost completely healed and as for the memory loss they couldn't actually do anything for it. According to them it was a result of the head trauma and whether or not she got her memory back was something only time would tell. In Angel's opinion the dark slayer seemed to be taking things rather well, or so it would seem.

"You have a kid, a teenage kid?" she said and Angel nodded. "Who grew up in a hell dimension, raised by your former enemy from like the 17th century?" Angel gave another nod. "And his not B's kid?" he nodded again. "Huh, and B's got a sister, a 17 nearing 18 year old sister?" Nod. "Who's this mystical key thing that's supposed open the doors between dimensions and unleash hell on earth? Which happened but B shut it down by jumping into a ball of energy to save her sister and the world?" Nod. "But she was brought back, _from heaven_, by Red and the rest of the Scoobies? Which subsequently put a breach or something in the slayer line? So this First guy decides to act upon said breach and terminate all the potential slayers and then eventually the actual slayers?" Nod. "So B came up with some radical plan to transform all the potentials into slayers using a wicked scythe thing and then everyone went down into the Hellmouth to defeat these nasty uber-vamp guys? Then the Hellmouth exploded due to some gizmo that Spike, a _vampire, a vampire who had a whicked Jones for B no less_, wore and we stopped the world from ending? That right so far?" he nodded again.

"Right," she said, drawing out the word. "And meanwhile, you broke up with Buffy and moved to L.A. to start up your own little detective club with _Cordelia_, cheerleader Cordelia who now has visions, Wesley, who according to you used to be me and B's watcher, some guy named Gunn, who used to live on the street, and a girl named Fred, who spent five years in a hell dimension?" Nod. "And about, oh, two years ago your sire, Darla, came back from the dead and you became wicked obsessed with her. Then she was turned back into a vampire and you went all dark and slept with her?" Nod. "The year after she comes back to town, after disappearing, pregnant with your kid and to have the kid she had to stake herself. Said kid was then later on taken to a hell dimension by your enemy, because of Wesley 'cause there was some prophecy about you killing your son, a fake prophecy, how'm I doing so far?"

"Good, good," Angel said, happy to do something other than nod for a change.

"So then this kid, Connor, comes back hating your guts and later on sends you to the bottom of the ocean, but you were saved by Wesley. Later on this demon called the Beast comes to town and his all unstoppable and you guys realize that Angelus knew said Beast and the only way to get some dirt on him was to take away your soul?"Nod. "And then your soul goes missing and I come into help the gang get it back, I end up in a coma where I take this mystical mind walk thing with you and Angelus. We both wake up, you have your soul back thanks to Red and then I head to Sunnydale, which brings us back to the First?" Angel nodded, his neck aching beyond belief, he felt like one of those dogs with the boggle heads.

"Huh, can I just ask you something?" she asked as they reached the Hyperion doors.

"Sure."

"What the hell are you people doing?"

"You know I've asked myself that very same question," he replied with a slight smile.

"Well, let me know when you have an answer."

"Will do."

"Wicked, you guys live in a hotel!" Faith exclaimed, entering the Hyperion with Angel.

"Have for some time now, Faith," Cordelia said, looking at the brunette as if she had suddenly grown an extra head.

Fred, Wesley, Gunn and Lorne were also in the lobby, obviously waiting for the arrival of the vampire and the slayer. Faith looked them over, clearly trying to figure out who most of them were.

"Why is there a demon in the hotel?" she whispered, leaning into Angel's ear so only he could hear her question.

"He's a friend, harmless, in fact his probably friendlier then most humans."

"Huh, time goes by," Faith said, looking at Lorne with a raised eyebrow.

"How are you feeling?" Fred asked.

"Cool, well unless you count the massive headache but other than that I'm five by five." She said with a smile.

"Yeah, I was just you know checking, 'cause it must've really hurt – not that I've ever been hit by a bus before, although my ma did run over a demon in one, not that that really has anything to do with what we're talking about but – would you like some painkillers?" she said, going into babble mode.

Faith and Angel exchanged a look.

"Nah, I'm good. You mind if I take a look around?" the slayer asked Angel.

"Yeah, sure, go ahead. I'll stay here and explain what's going on."

Faith nodded before disappearing up the stairs. The A.I. gang turned a suspicious stare on Angel.

"What's there to explain?" Cordelia asked.

The vampire shifted uncomfortably beneath their scrutiny. "Uh, well, Faith has a, uh, a slight case of amnesia."

"What type of amnesia? The type where you can't remember the past couple of days or the type where you can't remember a few months, or the type where you can't remember the past couple of years?" she asked.

Angel scratched the back of his head. "Uh, the latter."

"How many years?"

"Not that many."

"How many, angel?" she demanded.

"About five, maybe six," he mumbled.

He watched as everyone did the math, Lorne, Wesley and Cordelia's eyes widening as they realized what the last year she could remember was.

"Oh god, you mean she can't remember anything past senior year?" the seer asked. "What time senior year?"

"From what I've gathered just before she killed Finch."

Both Wesley and Cordelia let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank god we're not dealing with psycho Faith," she said, then suddenly realizing something, "Although teen Faith isn't that much better."

"Oh, come on Cordy, she wasn't that bad," he protested weakly, receiving three incredulous stares in return.

Gunn and Fred must have decided to help Faith settle in because they were nowhere to be seen.

Cordelia snorted. "Oh please, Angel, she practically had Slut-o-rama labelled across her forhead."

"I'll admit: she was a bit . . . out there."

The seer gave another snort of disbelief. "Just a bit?"

Angel continued as if he hadn't heard her. "But she's not that bad, just very . . . free spirited."

"Angel she sleeps with anything that walks," the brunette told him.

"Maybe she just hasn't found the right person yet," he said defensively, wondering how the conversation had been swayed over to Faith's rather extensive sexual activities.

"Angel, to find the right person you have to actually allow someone to be around you for more than one night," she pointed out, rolling her eyes.

"Ooh, what about that Wood guy?" Fred said excitedly, coming back into the lobby with Gunn, sandwiches in hand. "They slept together back in Sunnydale and he's still hanging around."

"Not gonna happen," Angel said, with an air of finality, wondering why he suddenly felt so angry.

Gunn and Cordy looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"How do you know they slept together?" Cordy asked, turning to Fred who blushed.

"She, um, told me."

Angel glared at the ground. "It doesn't matter how she found out it's not going to happen."

"And how would you know that?" Wesley asked, looking at him in amusement.

"She said they were only friends, and would never be anything else."

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "I'm starting to think that you like her."

Angel's head shot up in surprise. "I DON"T!"

"Shish, I'm just kidding," the seer said looking at hum as if he had suddenly lost his mind. "See, it's this thing that we do, we say things that aren't actually true, otherwise known as sarcasm."

"Well, as interesting as this conversation is, at some point we are going to get back to the problem of Faith's amnesia," Wesley said.

"Right, yes, of course, let's do that," Angel said quickly, eager to get off the current subject.

Everyone looked at him as if he had suddenly gone crazy before turning their attention to Wesley.

"The thing is that although Faith may have no memory of being evil it also means that she has no memory of feeling guilt for her crimes," Wesley began. "This makes her just as unstable as she was back in Sunnydale."

He paused to give it time to sink in and then continued. "She'll need excessive around the clock watching to make sure she doesn't slip like last time, it'll be extremely difficult. And, if I'm to assume correctly, Angel, that you haven't told her about what she's done, Faith will be rather suspicious . . . perhaps we should tell her, just so she's aware of what she's capable of."

"No," Angel said, immediately. "We can't make her pay for something she technically hasn't even done yet," he paused. "You know, this is the first time in a long time I've seen Faith smile without having a haunted look in her eyes, she has a fresh start."

"Until her memory returns, which is mostly likely to happen soon," Wesley pointed out. "Faith has massive trust issues; keeping something like this from her will make her feel deeply betrayed."

"I can't tell her Wesley."

The ex-watcher sighed, rubbing his eyes in exhaustion. "Very well, but I can guarantee that it will surely backfire."

Next: the A.I. gang to their best to help Faith adapt without her memory. Cordelia tries to help her remember things and she begins to bond with Lorne.


	3. I'll buy you an icee'

A/N: Right here's the third chapter. The song is Over the Rainbow by, well honestly I don't know who it's by since I kept getting heaps of different people for it. I think it's by Harold Arlen though. Anyway, enjoy and please review.

"OK, try this," Cordelia said, handing a purse to Faith.

The slayer rolled her eyes and took it, closing her eyes. It had been a week since Faith had arrived at Angel Investigations and since then Cordy and Fred had been trying everything to get Faith some of her memory back. Angel had decided to stay out of it along with Wesley, Gunn and Lorne, although Wesley suggested a few things on occasion. Angel would've helped Faith but not only was he not so sure he wanted her to get her memory back they also weren't on the best of terms since Faith had reverted to her younger self, in which time her and the vampire weren't exactly great friends.

"Anything?" Cordy asked.

They sat on top of Faith's bed, items strewn out around them. The younger girl opened one eye first before the other followed after a pause and she raised her eyebrows at the other woman.

"No. Although I don't see why there should be since this is all your stuff and not mine."

Cordelia rolled her eyes at the brunette's attitude. "I told you: we don't exactly have any of your stuff here since you've been off god knows where doing your thing or whatever. Besides, last time you were here you borrowed all this stuff. Without my permission, I might add."

Faith shrugged. "What can I say? I want-" she looked over at the bowl of popcorn resting between the two. "I take-" she leant forward and took a handful of popcorn. "I have," she finished with a smirk, popping one of them into her mouth.

Something about the words sent a shiver up Cordelia's spine but she tried to ignore it. They were just words right?

"That's some philosophy you got for you there," she commented in an offhand tone.

Once again the brunette shrugged, placing some more popcorn in her mouth. "Had it since I was thirteen. Way I see it: no-one's gonna get things for you, if you want something, the only way to have it is to get it yourself. That simple."

"Not always," she said with a frown.

Faith shifted uncomfortably. "Look, can we just get on with this 'trying to draw up memories' thing?"

"Sure," the seer replied after a pause.

It was still strange to be around Faith now that she was like this – like her teenage self. The one who had always been carefree and had her devil-may-care smile in place at all times, the one who cut herself off and tried not to trust anyone, the aggressive Faith who had eventually turned evil but there was thing about this Faith that Cordelia didn't hate having back: her smile. Sure the older Faith smiled all the time but this was different, it was special. When she smiled it seemed to consume her 

entire being and light up her eyes, the eyes that since their return had lost their haunted look. Sure, Faith didn't smile a lot – she smirked and she sneered – but when she did, you could tell. It was one of the only things her Angel agreed on at the moment.

"So, what's this about Red being gay?" Faith asked to break the silence.

Cordelia's face broke into a smile.

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"Come on, please. Pretty, pretty please," Faith said, following the vampire and sticking out her lower lip.

"I told you Faith, you're still not completely healed, you can't come with us," Angel replied.

The brunette snorted. "Angel, I was completely healed like four days ago."

Angel sighed, knowing full that Faith was healthy and capable of fighting demons with them. The only problem was that he and Wesley had decided that, for the time being, they would keep Faith off active duty so as to make sure that she didn't slip like last time.

"I'm sorry, Faith, maybe next time," he said before following Wesley, Gunn, Fred and Cordelia out hotel doors.

She sighed and leaned back against the wall. "I'll hold you to that."

"Oh, don't look so upset kitten, you've still got me for company," Lorne said, coming down the stairs.

"Yeah," she replied, forcing a smile.

Somehow spending the day with a demon instead of kicking the crap out one didn't hold much appeal.

"Come on, I'm not that bad a company," he told her. "I tell you what, let's go shopping and we'll buy you some stuff, I don't think Cordelia to enthused about the idea of people borrowing her clothes forever."

There was a pause in which Faith still looked a little reluctant.

"I'll even by you an ice-cream."

Finally she gave in with a smile but before she could reply she was assaulted by a man's voice in her head that seemed to come from all directions.

"_...I'll buy you an icee."_

Faith blinked trying to clear her head as the voice faded away.

"Faith you OK?"

"Five by five, jeeves."

At least she hoped she was; she was hearing freakin' voices in her head for heaven's sake. She shivered at the thought and Lorne eyed her carefully, clearly not convinced.

"Well we better go then," he said after a pause.

Faith nodded silently, still a little dazed.

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"So, Fred mentioned you were empata demon, how's that work?" Faith asked, trying to make conversation as they walked down the street.

"Empath," Lorne corrected with a smile. "I read people's future and past when they sing . . . I read you once."

She raised an eyebrow in a mixture of amusement and disbelief. "You mean I actually sang for you?"

Lorne smiled at the memory. "You've got quite a voice, Kitten."

"Yeah, well, let's just keep that between you and me, OK?"

Lorne ignored this. "It's a shame you weren't around when Carritas was still up and running, you would've been good for business."

"Carritas?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"A bar I used to run."

"'Used to'?"

"Yeah, word of advice: if you're trying to run a business, don't be friends with Angel. Odds are it'll be blown to pieces more than once."

Faith winced, sympathetically. "Ouch."

There was a pause.

"So, what'd my future say?" she asked out of the blue.

"I didn't see much, it was very confusing. Perhaps if you sang for me again I'd be able to tell you."

"Hell no."

"I'll get you the best, most expensive ice-cream in the store."

"You're on," she replied with a smirk.

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Angel let out a cry of pain and shock as Cordelia's punch missed its intended target and hit him instead.

"Me, not a demon!" he exclaimed, clutching his nose.

Cordy raised an eyebrow.

"Well, not the demon you're meant to be fighting anyway," he amended.

"Oh don't tell me my widdle punch hurt the big bad vampire," she said in a patronising tone. "You're a vampire Angel, suck it up."

"Hay, you two, quit with the talking and get with the hacking," Gunn said, punching a rather gross looking demon in the face.

"Yes, that would be rather helpful right about now," Wesley gasped due another demon's hands clutched tightly around his neck.

Angel turned from Cordelia and brought his sword around in an arc.

"Gross," Cordelia said, as the demons head rolled past her bubbling like acid.

"I second that," Fred said, watching as the head eventually melted into a puddle of goo along with its body that lay at Wesley's feet.

Gunn shrugged, unbothered, as he too decapitated his demon. Now there was only one left, and it looked as if it were about to run any minute.

"We should question it, I mean the P.T.B obviously sent me that vision for a reason," Cordy commented as Angel grabbed the demon, preparing to snap its neck.

"Right, I knew that," Angel said sheepishly, lowering his hands.

The demon growled. "You'll get nothing out of me, half-breed."

"Yipee, it can talk. Isn't it frustrating how you wanna question a demon but it ends up not being able to talk," Fred said.

"Right, yeah, sure," Cordy muttered, then turned to the scaly looking demon. "OK, demon, talk."

"Nothing will escape my lips that will bring peril to my master." The demon suddenly sneered. "Besides, even if I did tell you it wouldn't change a thing; 'As it is written, so shall it be'."

"How about trying that again in English," Angel suggested, pressing his sword into the demon's neck.

Its sneer deepened. "You can't protect her, never could."

In a flash of motion the demon grabbed the vampire's sword and, without a moment's hesitation, impaled himself on it.

Everyone watched as the demon's body fell to the ground limp.

Cordy whistled. "That's what you call a devoted follower."

"What do you think he meant?" Fred asked.

"Well, I imagine that 'As it is written, so shall it be' stands for a prophecy," Wesley noted, "As for the second part, I can only draw a blank."

"Mm," Fred murmured in agreement. "I mean, there are a lot of 'her's in the world, kinda tricky to find out which one he meant."

"Agreed," Angel grunted.

"I hope it's not me," Cordy muttered. "After all, I'm a 'her'."

Fred's eyes widened in realization. "I hope it's not me."

"It's times like these I wish I was a guy," the seer said.

Everyone's eyes widened at that but Cordy didn't notice as she headed towards the car.

"It's times like these I wish I was deaf," Wesley muttered, following after her.

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The A.I gang entered the Hyperion hotel, talking – well, arguing – all the while. They stopped short at the sight that greeted them. Faith – _Faith_ – was standing on the desk in the lobby, microphone in hand, shyly singing the words to a song that Angel never in a thousand years would've have thought he'd hear coming from her lips.

She stopped short at the sight of them but at an encouraging gesture from Lorne continued, although slightly more hesitant.

"_...There's a land that I heard of  
Once in a lullaby..." _

The gang watched stupefied as Faith sung the lyrics in a soft, soothing and, dare he say it, voice that none of them knew she even possessed.

"_...Somewhere over the rainbow  
Skies are blue  
And the dreams that you dare to dream  
Really do come true..."_

"Isn't she wonderful?" Lorne said, leaning into the group so only they could hear.

He'd been watching her with something like pride up until now and they almost jumped in surprise at the sound of his voice.

"Yeah, she is," Angel said, positively mesmerised by the sound of her voice.

He smiled up at her along with everyone else and her confidence increased. She smiled radiantly.

"_...Some day I'll wish upon a star  
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me  
Where troubles melt like lemondrops  
Away above the chimney tops  
That's where you'll find me..."_

"How the hell did you get her to sing a song like this – how the hell did you get her to sing?" Gunn asked in astonishment. 

"As it turns out, Faith will go a long way for a bit of ice-cream," Lorne told them.

The group stared at him incredulously.

"You gave her ice-cream, and now she's singing a song she probably wouldn't even dare to listen to?"

Lorne nodded.

Cordelia suddenly got an evil glint in her eyes. "Oh, the things I could make her do."

"_...Somewhere over the rainbow  
Bluebirds fly  
Birds fly over the rainbow  
Why then, oh why can't I?  
Some day I'll wish upon a star  
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me  
Where troubles melt like lemondrops  
Away above the chimney tops  
That's where you'll find me..." _

"I'm recording it too," the demon commented. "Once I finally get Carritas up and running again, this will make great background music."

"And she's letting you do that?" Gunn asked slowly.

Lorne shrugged. "She gets an extra ice-cream for it and a ticket to the movies."

"She's . . . quite good," Wesley said, seeming unable to come to turns with the fact that the badass slayer was singing _Over the Rainbow._

"Oh, she's better than good. Got the potential to be a real star . . . It's a shame you weren't here for her other songs, she did great with those too."

"Lorne, this song, it doesn't really suite Faith," Cordelia said hesitantly.

"Doesn't it?" he replied, gazing steadily at her. It was clear he thought otherwise. "Because I think it does. I think it shows the real her, the one without the tough facade."

Angel nodded, watching Faith he agreed with Lorne.

"_...Somewhere over the rainbow  
Bluebirds fly  
Birds fly over the rainbow  
Why then, oh why can't I?"_

Angel watched Faith as she continued to sing, dimples appearing on her cheeks as she smiled. For the moment she'd lost her 'tough facade' as Lorne called it and was just, her. Truly Faith. She wasn't just a tough girl and Angel knew that, it was the rest of the gang that hadn't.

As he watched her, her smile growing wider by the second as thought this was the most fun she'd had in ages, he knew he loved her.

He knew he'd fallen in love with Faith.

"_...If happy little bluebirds fly  
Beyond the rainbow  
Why, oh why can't I?"_

A/N: What do you think? Thanks for the reviews by the way._  
_


	4. Voices

Disclaimer: I do not own either Buffy or Angel; they both belong to the fabulous Joss Whedon.

A/N: Sorry I haven't posted for a while, I went on holidays with my dad. The quotes are from the episodes: _Enemies_, _Five by Five_ and _Sanctuary_.

"God, that is gross," Cordelia exclaimed as Faith continued to shovel food into her mouth at a speed unheard of.

Everyone looked at Faith with similar thoughts.

"What?" Faith said in reply to their looks, not bothering to finish her mouthful "I'm hungry."

They all made disgusted sounds.

"Someone needs to teach Kitten table manners," Lorne muttered.

The slayer shrugged and reached over to snatch the pizza slice out of Angel's hands. The vampire let out a surprised squeak that had Cordy and Fred snickering in the corner.

"That's mine!" he protested.

She shrugged again, unbothered, and put the pizza in her mouth. "You're a vampire; you don't even eat food."

"Yeah, well, sometimes I like to . . . taste things," Angel mumbled lamely.

Faith raised an eyebrow and smirk. "Really? What else do you like to taste besides pizza?"

It was clear by the way she said it that she wasn't talking about food. Angel blushed – was it even possible for vampires to blush? – and Fred and Cordelia's snickering deepened.

"Um, well, sometimes I like to try chocolate and stuff," he replied.

It had taken a while but he had finally come to the conclusion that he was not in love with Faith and he had only thought that he was because he was under a spell. Yes, the whole place had been under a spell, after all how else would Lorne be able to get Faith to sing, and to sing _Over the Rainbow_ no less? Besides: _him_ in love with _Faith_? Never

Faith snorted and leaned back in her chair. "Sounds nice."

"Doesn't it?" Cordelia said with a smile.

The slayer sighed. "You know, there's something that's still bothering me. I can understand how I could've been friends with all of you guys, but I don't understand how I could've been yours," she said, turning to Angel. "You're a vampire; it goes against everything I believe in. How could I have been your friend?"

Everyone shifted uncomfortably, unsure of how to answer that. They couldn't tell her the real reason for her friendship with the vampire and at the moment they had no idea how to come up with a reasonable explanation. Finally it was Wesley who answered.

"You've changed a lot, Faith. More than you could ever imagine."

"What? I turn to the dark side or somethin'?" she joked.

They all froze eyes wide.

Faith snorted. "Yo, I'm kiddin', don't look so shocked. You guys really need to lighten up, you know."

Angel smiled a little too brightly. "Don't we just?"

The brunette eyed him, eyebrows raised. "Right . . . well, I'm gonna go take a shower."

They watched as she climbed the stairs and disappeared down the hall.

"I knew she was kidding. Did you guys know she was kidding? I knew she was kidding," Cordelia said quickly.

"Yeah, I knew she was kidding," Angel lied with a shrug as everyone else muttered similar things.

"I think we need to come up with a better story," Wesley suggested. "Her friendship with a vampire isn't the only thing that is going to have us tongue tied."

"You think?" Cordy said. "Or am I the only one who noticed the big wanted signs posted all over the mall?"

"God I tell ya, those were hard to steer clear of when I took her shopping," Lorne agreed.

Before they could say anything else they were interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing in Wesley's office.

"I'll get it," Cordy said before disappearing.

"You know, I just realized somethin'," Gunn announced. "We can make up any farfetched story and Faith would believe it. Hay, we could even say her and Wes got married in Vegas."

This idea had Wesley looking mortified.

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Faith stared across at the shower screen opposite her, searching. Thanks to the amount of steam it was impossible to distinguish anything let alone a reflection. A part of her was grateful for that; she still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that from now on when she looked in the mirror she wouldn't be seeing the same teenage girl starring back at her but a woman. She'd lost, like, five years of her life which left her not knowing who the hell she was anymore.

Faith knew the A.I. gang were keeping something from her and the fact that she wasn't trying to get out of them was either because: a) she couldn't be bothered, b) she'd just wait for it to come out eventually, c) maybe it wasn't anything and she was just getting all anxious over nothing, or d) she wasn't so sure she wanted to know what they were hiding from her.

She was clueless as to which one it was.

It was strange, to feel young in a body that was clearly older than you were. It made her feel sought of false.

"You feel young, - do you, Faith? - You're looking pretty worn out to me."

She breathed in sharply before reaching for the shampoo. Her hair was longer than she remembered it and she was considering getting it cut. It'd help her feel a little more in control, like she wasn't just a girl being steered around by some higher power. It'd make her feel a little more in control of the life she had been dropped into.

"...Where nothing's in control, nothing makes sense! There is just pain and hate..."

"God, it hurts. I hate that it hurts like this."

"I never knew you had so much rage in you."

"...and nothing you do means anything!"

Faith blinked as the voices swirled around her head, growing louder and more confusing by the second. With a shaky breath she began to wash the shampoo from her hair. She didn't know what to do about the voices or what they meant. Were they memories? Or was she just going crazy? Either way she wasn't planning on telling anyone about them anytime soon, not until she knew what they meant. Faith frowned and reached for the soap – if they indeed meant anything.

"Just tell me how to make it better."

The slayer clenched her fist and the soap in her right hand snapped in half under the pressure.

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"Who was it?" Wesley asked as Cordelia exited his office.

Before she could answer a newly clothed and refreshed Faith came bounding down the stairs. The scent of her coconut conditioner reached Angel's nose and he had to forcibly stop himself from letting out a contented sigh. _Get a hold of yourself, Angel,_ the vampire reprimanded. _It's not that good a conditioner, besides it's probably Cordelia's. And you don't get all sigh-y over her._

"It was Buffy," the seer replied.

The vampire instantly became alert. "What? Is she OK?"

Faith raised her eyebrow at his panicked look and leaned towards Gunn. "They have broken up right?"

The African-American let out a small chuckle.

Angel scowled and turned his attention back to Cordelia.

"Yeah she's fine," the brunette told him. "Actually, she's having some kinda party in Italy for the anniversary or whatever of when the Hellmouth got shut down and all the slayers were awakened. All the gang's coming over from their respective places across the globe along with any other slayers who want to join. She was just ringing up to invite us."

"Cool, count me in. But right now me and Green have a prior appointment," Faith announced before turning to Lorne. "You still owe me another ice-cream."

The demon nodded. "That I do, Kitten."

The slayer grabbed his arm and, without a moment's hesitation, dragged him out the door.

Cordy watched them go eyebrows raised. "Again with the ice-cream . . . Anyhow, Buffy also wanted to know whether we knew where Faith was. Apparently she went missing a couple of weeks ago; she said Robin's breathing down her neck like crazy. Guy doesn't know what happened to her."

"Oh," Angel said, feeling a slight twinge of jealously – for some unknown reason – at the mention of Robin. "Did you tell her about Faith's memory loss?"

"Nah, I figured that was more something to announce in person. But I did tell her Faith was with us, Buffy was beyond pissed that she hadn't been informed of that yet."

"So, when do we leave?" Fred asked.

"Tomorrow night . . . Hey, Wesley, did you find anything more on that prophecy thing?"

Wesley shook his head. "The thing is I have nothing really to go on, after all there are lot of prophecies in the world; I can't very well decipher them all. I'll have to speak to Giles about it though when we arrive, perhaps he's heard something."

"Does anyone else think that Faith looked a little agitated?" Angel asked.

Everyone looked at him blankly.

"Guess it was just me then."

He sighed and leaned back in his seat, his thoughts, not for the first time and certainly not for the last, on Faith.

A/N: What do you think? Please review I love reading them.

And in reply to _shelimar2_ you read my mind, I've been planning to do something similar to that all along although Robin might not show up for a few chapters yet.


	5. Huh?

A/N: Please, please review and thanks for all the other reviews that I've gotten. Also, I probably should have said this earlier means the beginning of a memory. Memories either consist of just voices or both voices and the, you know, image. Just thought I'd write that in case anyone was confused.

Faith sighed and leant her head back against the seat. "I hate plane flights."

Angel, who sat beside her, cocked an eyebrow. "Have you ever _been_ on a plane before?"

There was a pause. "No . . . at least I don't think so, have I?"

The vampire shrugged. "Beats me."

"You went on one with Buffy and the rest of the gang to England and back, 'least that's what you told me. Don't know if you've been on any after that," Cordelia commented from beside Angel.

"Huh, did I happen to mention whether I liked it?" she asked.

Cordy shrugged and shook her head, flipping through the magazine on her lap. Faith took that as a 'no' and tightened her grip on the armrest as plane ran into some turbulence. Angel noticed her tense form and frowned.

"You OK?"

Faith grimaced. "I think I have fear of flying."

Cordelia snorted. "Of all the things you could've been afraid of..."

The slayer scowled and sent her the finger, the seer replied in kind. Angel watched this in amusement, over the weeks in which Faith had stayed with them her and Cordelia had become quite close, often falling into light verbal sparring.

Faith didn't loosen her grip as the turbulence stopped and Angel sighed. "You should try going to sleep; you'll miss out on the flight that way," he told her.

"Little hard on these chairs, Soul Boy, don't know how anyone can sleep on them," she replied.

"Sleep on Angel, that's always more comfortable," Cordelia said nonchalantly, still not looking up from her magazine.

Faith and Angel swung around to look at her, eyes wide.

The seer rolled her eyes. "Head on his shoulder, I used to do it all the time when I went on a plane, just not with Angel. You guys really need to get your minds out of the gutter, you know."

Angel blushed while Faith just shrugged, appearing unbothered. With a yawn she took up Cordy's advice and rested her head on Angel's shoulder, shutting her eyes. He resisted the urge to tense up at the close contact and instead busied himself with glaring at Cordelia who shrugged innocently. He scowled and looked back at Faith only to find that she had already fallen asleep, apparently the ex-

cheerleader's suggestion had been correct. Watching her he couldn't help noticing how innocent and peaceful she looked whilst sleeping and, absentmindedly, he brushed away a stray lock that had fallen across her face.

The vampire shifted carefully to look behind him. Wesley, Fred and Gunn were in the three seats behind and Lorne sat across from them. He couldn't help but think about how the seating arrangement represented how the three were in life; Fred always between Gunn and Wes.

Cordy noticed his starring and as though reading his mind said, "My money's on Wes."

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Faith looked around as Angel knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Someone she couldn't recall shouted.

The vampire held the door open and the gang entered, Faith in the lead. No sooner had they stepped across the threshold was she bombarded by a teenage girl with brown hair.

"Faith, you're back," the girl cried, flinging her arms around the slayer.

Faith stiffened, _who the hell was this chick?_

"You realize Robin's been worried sick about you," the brunette told her, pulling back.

She frowned at the unfamiliar name and glanced around the house. No sign of Buffy or anyone else.

"Robin?"She asked.

Angel scratched the back of his head. "Uh, yeah, guess we forgot to mention him."

Dawn looked at him in confusion before turning back to Faith.

"Faith, this is Buffy's sister, Dawn," Wesley told her, sensing the slayer's deep confusion.

Faith blinked as an image flashed in her mind.

_A brunette girl, about 12, sat at table beside her. Opposite them was Buffy and Joyce Summers._

"_So, you're a slayer too, huh, do you make out with vampires as well?" the girl asked._

"_Dawn!" Mrs Summers scolded._

Faith pushed the memory, if that's what it was, back and smiled at her.

"Uh, Wesley, Faith and I already know each other," the teen pointed out.

Before he could reply they were interrupted by Buffy and Giles entering the room.

"Hey guys, it's great to see you," Buffy said with a smile before her gaze landed on Faith. "Especially you; it's nice to see you're in one piece. We've been looking for you, I was beginning worry you'd dropped off the face of the earth."

"I've been looking for you."

"I've been standing still for eight months, B. How hard did you look?"

Damn it, she was getting annoyed by these voices.

"Well, here I am, confused as ever."

Confused looks came over Buffy, Giles and Dawn's faces, the latter looking like she was about ready to explode with questions.

"Faith's got a slight case of amnesia," Angel said by way of explanation.

Their eyes widened.

"How slight?" Buffy asked.

"Oh, you know, nothing major," he said evasively.

"Five years," Cordy cut in.

Their eyes widened even more.

"That's slight?" the blonde exclaimed to Angel.

"Well, she can still remember all of us . . . most of us," he amended.

Faith raised a hand. "Hey, still here yah know."

"So, she doesn't know about...?" Buffy trailed off.

"No," he told her, receiving a raised eyebrow from Faith.

"Right. We'll talk later," she decided, before pouting and turning to Giles. "How come we can never have a normal party?"

"I suspect we have poor timing," the ex-librarian muttered.

"There's something else, too," Wesley said causing both Dawn and Buffy to groan. "We ran across a group of demons last week and they mentioned what we think to be a prophecy. I was wondering whether you've heard anything."

"A prophecy. There's always a prophecy. I'd give Dawn for a good news report," the blonde muttered.

"Hey!" her sister protested, looking rightly offended.

Giles on the other hand seemed to be considering Buffy's words. "There was that news report in Mexico about the Congara demons, the reporter had a hard time explaining that one."

"Ooh, did someone say demons?" Xander asked, entering the room.

"That was Giles," Dawn told him. "According to Wes here we have another prophecy to deal with. Hopefully it includes lots of puppies and cotton-candy."

"I don't think they make that kind," Oz said, appearing besides Xander.

"Check it out, same old Oz," Faith said, looking the were-wolf, who hadn't changed a bit since Sunnydale (at least in the looks department), over.

He raised an eyebrow calmly, thinking of the talks he'd endured from Buffy's sister about how much the dark slayer changed. "I'd say the same about you but I don't think I can."

"Believe me when I say you can. In fact, I'm exactly the same," she replied with a smirk, remembering from what Cordelia told her that he had left Sunnydale not too long after what she could remember.

"This is one of those things I need to be filled in on, right?" he asked, still calm.

"Faith can't remember anything past about just over halfway through senior year," Wesley told him.

Oz nodded. "That bites."

"You have no idea," the brunette replied.

"Yes, well, in reply to your earlier question, Wesley, I'm afraid I haven't heard a thing," Giles said.

The ex-watcher sighed. "I suppose we'll just have to wait for something to come up then."

"Don't say that!" the blonde cried pointing an accusing finger at him. "Something bad always comes up when you say that."

"That's just negative thinking, B," Faith told her with a smile. "I doubt that words are really gonna make somethin' bad happen."

No sooner had she said it then there came a crash and a scream from somewhere else in the house.

"I told you!" she cried, this time pointing the accusing finger at Faith. "I told you!"

"It came from upstairs," Angel noted, looking to the floor above his head.

They all took off in that direction, Faith muttering as she went, "No way is this happening, just a damn coincidence."

They rushed up the stairs of the extravagant mansion. Apparently when Giles and everyone else had gone about resurrecting the Watchers Council and gathering those that hadn't been blown up the profit had not been small. As it turned out the Council was in fact richer than the Queen and had stowed most of their money away in, wait for it, _New Zealand_.

The house was used to train and board many of the slayers in Italy while the rest of the gang and other Council members had similar places stuck up all over the globe.

Fighting evil certainly payed more than it used to.

They made it to the top of the stairs to be met by an almost never ending hallway that had Faith wondering whether she'd woken up in Wonderland or something. There was another crash that seemed to come from a room about four doors down and the group headed towards it.

Wrenching the door open and stepping in, they gaped at the sight before them.

Sprawled across the floor were Willow and Kennedy and judging by the lack of clothes and smeared lipstick it hadn't been demons that had caused the noises.

"What's going on?" Willow asked, rushing to cover herself up along with Kennedy.

Faith scanned the room and raised an eyebrow when her gaze landed on a pair of handcuffs. With a smirk she leant towards Buffy's ear. "Yeah, I get what you mean, B; this is _real_ bad."

And with that the slayer left the room leaving behind a blushing group of people. Her laughs could be heard from down the hall and Buffy had to seriously resist the urge to strangle her. Yet.

"Nothing, Willow, nothing at all."

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Faith frowned as she turned over a page in her book.

"Oh My God, it reads," Buffy said, entering the lounge room.

Faith, not looking up from the book, sent her the rude finger and Buffy smirked. Interested the blonde made her way around the table that Faith had her feet up on and snatched the book out of her hands, her eyes widening comically at the title.

"_Gone with the Wind_?" She exclaimed in astonishment. "OK, it's hard enough to except the fact that Faith reads, which I still haven't done by the way, but the fact that she reads a book that is Giles and Willow material is beyond me . . . You're not possessed are you?"

The brunette scowled and took the book back. After a few minutes of non-answering Buffy frowned.

"Well, are you?"

Giving up on the idea that her sister slayer was going to back the hell off and leave her alone she sighed and slammed the book down on the table. "Just taking a trip down memory lane."

Buffy frowned again, this time in confusion. "You were born in the 1860s?"

Faith snorted at this. "No, but sometimes I think my watcher was. She used to read all the old books, would never read one that was published past 1950."

The blonde froze at the mention of Faith's deceased watcher and realized that this must've been the first time Faith had spoken of her since Kakistos had been dusted. After a pause she took a seat beside her, ready to have a talk that she knew the two should have had a long time ago. Ah well, better late than never. Plus she had that added bonus of Faith actually being from a long time ago.

"How does you reading _Gone_ _with the Wind_ come into this?" She asked, not sure how else to start up the conversation she wanted to have.

At first she thought that Faith wasn't going to answer but then after about a minute the brunette opened her mouth.

"When I was 14 Julia, my watcher, found me . . . She took me in and taught me all the stuff about being the slayer, even though I was only a potential at the time," Faith paused.

"Didn't your parents mind that you'd been taken away?" Buffy asked.

The dark slayer shrugged. "Didn't have no parents _to_ mind. Mum was dead, dad – well, I don't even know who he was."

The blonde winced at the nonchalance in the other slayer's voice. "So, you're watcher took you in."

She nodded. "I used to have these nightmares," there was pause in which she debated whether to continue, not so sure whether she wanted to open up to the blonde sitting across from her. "I'd be out of my mind screaming bloody murder, the only thing that could ever calm me down she found was when she'd read me stories . . . Although, not exactly the most ideal stories as you can see."

Faith held up the book for emphasis. "Not exactly my taste."

"So she would read you _Gone with the Wind_," Buffy said with a smile.

"Yeah, among other things," a smile tugged at the brunette's lips. "Couldn't get me to sleep otherwise . . . eventually I got used to her taste in books."

"She sounds nice."

The slayer nodded. "She was. Well, until Kakistos tore into her anyway."

"You don't talk about your past much," she said, by way of changing the subject

Faith smiled bitterly. "Not something I like to talk about."

Buffy nodded. "I get that . . . But if you ever want to talk about it more, we're always here."

"You've changed," she noted after a pause.

"What do you mean?"

"You're not so self-absorbed anymore," Faith said flippantly.

Buffy opened her mouth to retort but then closed it realizing that it was Faith she was talking to. It was something she'd say just to change the subject or to get the attention off of her, whether she really meant it was an entirely different story. Plus, she was kinda right.

"I guess I grew up, we all did."

"And now I've reverted back to my annoying teen self, that's gotta be a bitch."

"You have no idea," the blonde said, leaning back in her seat.

The two shared a smile and Buffy's eyes once again fell on the book. "I still can't believe you're reading that–I still can't believe you can read!"

"I feel like I should be offended by that," the brunette replied, cocking an eyebrow.

The other slayer chuckled. "Where'd you get it anyway?"

"Snagged it from Giles, think he'll notice?"

Buffy looked at her as if the answer was obvious.

"You're kidding right? This is Giles we're talking about, he does routinely checks on all his books each night; of course he'll notice," she replied. "I bet you ten bucks he'll come running through that door any second now."

The doors burst open and a panicked looking Giles walked in.

Buffy turned to Faith, a huge smirk on her face. "What can I say? I'm good."

"Buffy, Faith, you must help me. Someone's stolen a book out of my private collection, it's called-"

"-_Gone with the Wind_," Buffy finished with a smile.

The ex-librarian looked at Buffy as if she had just grown an extra head. "Yes, how did you know that?"

Faith held up the book and gave it a little wave.

"I-How did you get that?" he demanded, taking off his glasses.

"Snatched it, how else?"

"Would it be too much to ask for permission?"

"It's just a book," Faith said with a roll of her eyes. "How was I supposed to know you'd go completely insane if I took it?"

"Just a book?" Giles sputtered. "That's not just a book!"

"What, it a Frisbee too?"

Buffy stifled a laugh behind her hand as Faith held up the book as if about to throw it.

"No!" Giles cried.

The brunette smiled, lowering the book.

"If you must know, that's from an old colleague of mine. I haven't been able to contact her in a few years, not since she received her first potential slayer. I'm sure she'll contact me sooner or later," he muttered, and then as if suddenly realizing something. "Since when do you read anyhow?"

"Well, as I told Buffy: I don't," she replied.

"Could have fooled me."

Faith glared at him.

"Well, if you really aren't reading it then you won't mind giving it back," Giles said, holding out a hand.

She scowled. "Alright, I'm reading it. But you can't tell anyone."

Buffy nodded. "It's front page material; and we really can't afford to have all the news reporters over here."

Faith turned her scowl on Buffy who just smiled innocently in return.

"Mm, I quite agree," he said with a grin. "May I ask why you're reading it, no offense but I've never seen you even touch a book before?"

"You may but I won't be answerin'."

"I figured as much," he sighed. "Well, I guess I should be leaving now, just, do be careful with it."

"Don't worry about it, G, this books in safe hands," she replied.

Giles sighed, walking away. "I so hope that's correct."

Faith rolled her eyes and opened the book on her lap.

"You think I should tell him?" she asked, not looking up.

Buffy blinked. "Tell him what?"

Wordlessly the brunette handed her the book, open on the first page. The slayer frowned in confusion, looking down at it until her eyes fell on something written on the inside of the cover.

"'_To my dear friend Rupert, I do hope you enjoy this book as much as I did, Yours sincerely Julia Little.' _Wait, is this your watcher's book?"

"Yep," Faith said. "Didn't find out though until I started readin' it. So, do you think I should tell him that his friend's dead?"

The blonde could see from the other slayer's face that it was not something she really wanted to do. "No, I'll tell him."

She sent her a grateful smile before taking the book back. "So, you wanna hear about Selfish Undecided Scarlett O'Hara?"

Buffy smiled in return. "Don't mind if I do. But if your voice ends up being too incoherent then I am so getting Willow down here so she can read."

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Angel and Xander made their way into the lounge room only to come to a screeching halt as they saw what was happening in there. Xander cocked his head to the left, trying to make sense of the bizarre scene in front of him. Sprawled across the couch on the far wall were Buffy, Faith and Dawn. Faith's head was resting on Buffy's shoulder while the blonde in turn used Faith's own head as a pillow and Dawn made a comfy bed of Buffy's lap.

On the couch opposite them were Gun, Fred and Cordelia, the two girls clearly overcrowding him. Centred on the back wall on another couch were Willow, Wesley and Lorne each taking turns to read from an overly large book, and scattered across the floor around them were about seventeen slayers, including Kennedy, and Andrew. Giles sat on a stool at the back of the room no more than five feet away from them.

Astonished, Xander leant in to whisper in the vampire's ear. "Deadboy, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

Angel nodded mutely, looking equally astounded.

"Whose idea do you think this was? I bet you it was Giles's."

"No, Wesley's," Angel replied, still looking far to shocked.

"Actually, I believe it was Faith's," Giles told them.

"Deadboy, pinch me," Xander said, looking even more shocked.

The vampire didn't need to be told twice and Xander let out a cry of pain. "OW! Not that hard!"

Everyone in the room turned to look at them, confused by the interruption.

"Nup, not asleep," Xander muttered, taking a seat on the ground along with Angel, before turning to face everyone in the room. "Go on, please, don't let us interrupt."

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"So, what's it like to have amnesia?" asked Andrew as Faith placed her, Cordelia and Buffy's washing in the dryer.

"Sucks like hell," she replied, holding up a black thong that she knew didn't belong to her and raising an eyebrow in question.

"What do you think: B's or the cheerleader's?" she asked, not looking over at him as she continued to gaze at the item of clothing.

"Ooh, I bet it's Buffy's. She probably got it from the immortal," he replied eagerly, happy that someone was paying attention to him.

"The Who-Now?" she enquired, placing it in the dryer along with the rest of the washing.

"The immortal. He's Buffy's new boyfriend; it seems like just the sort of thing he'd by her . . . do you have a boyfriend?"

Faith snorted. "Nope, and I never will."

"Oh . . . Do you have a girlfriend?"

This time she had to stifle a laugh as she turned around to face him. "Same answer kiddo."

Andrew frowned in confusion. "Well if you're not strait and you're not a lesbian what are you?"

"Hey, I never said I wasn't any of those, I just said I wasn't going to have a relationship with anybody."

"Oh . . . Would you go out with Angel?"

Faith suppressed a groan, now she knew why everyone thought this kid was so annoying.

"Faith?" asked a voice that she didn't recognise yet somehow found familiar.

She swung around to face the speaker and found herself looking at a man with dark skin and a shaved head. She hadn't seen him before yet there was something so damn familiar about him, he was probably someone she couldn't remember.

"Oh, Robin, It's so good to see you," Andrew gushed. "We seriously need someone to keep these girls in line so they don't steal anymore hot pockets and I was thinking who better to do that than a principle."

Robin didn't reply but continued to look at her and she found herself unable to look away.

"Faith?"

"You must be Principle Wood. Heard a lot about you."

...

"Faith–Make me a deal, all right? We live through this, you give me the chance to surprise you."

"What would be the surprise?"


	6. Everybody does the wacky sometimes

Disclaimer: I do not own either Buffy or Angel; they both belong to the fabulous Joss Whedon.

A/N: here is the chapter. Quotes are from the episodes: _Choices, Graduation Day part 1, Graduation Day part 2, This Year's Girl _and _Sanctuary._

Before Faith could even say anything Robin had rushed forward and enveloped her in a hug. Normally she would have stiffened and thrown the person off, muttering obscene things as she did so. But there was something so familiar about the embrace, something warm and comforting that kept her from doing exactly that. Whoever this guy was, she knew he was important to her. Just hopefully not in a boyfriend-ly way, 'cause her in a relationship, not gonna happen.

"Wow," Andrew sighed, appreciatively. "She was a slayer of toughness, a slayer of no emotion, a slayer that some thought had no heart. But now it has melted for the son of that which she is."

Both Robin and Faith turned around to glare at him.

"Would yah like me to punch your lights out, 'cause you really are begging for it?" she asked.

The geek suddenly looked very nervous. "I-I'll have you know, Faith, that in your future we are very good friends. A-And when – well _if_ – you get your memory back you'll feel real guilty about hitting me. So . . . don't."

"Memory?" Robin asked, confused.

"Andrew, I believe I may have changed a lot but I certainly haven't changed that much."

Suddenly a smiling Buffy appeared in the doorway, completely oblivious to Andrew's impending fate. "Oh, you found her . . . You know, there was something I didn't get a chance to mention before you , well, went running of like mad bull."

"There was no running, just . . . fast walking," Wood protested lamely.

"I'm a slayer and even I couldn't keep up with you."

"Well, that's because you weren't even trying," he replied, crossing his arms.

"Were too."

"Were not."

"Were too!"

Faith smacked a hand to her forehead. "I'm surrounded by idiots."

The two had the decency to blush and both mumbled similar things about that never having have happened.

"Anyhow," Buffy said, clearly trying to change the subject. "While you were away, Robin, we found out that Faith has amnesia."

"Why do you guys always have to be so technical, can't you just say 'Memory loss'?" Faith asked.

"Sorry, Faith, I forgot you had the vocabulary of a two year old," the blonde said with a roll of her eyes.

Faith pouted adorably. "Hey, I know the word 'technical', how many two year olds know that?"

"Fine, you're a two year old prodigy," Buffy said flippantly.

"Like Mozart," Andrew piped up. "Although, I think he was more of a six or something year old prodigy."

"Call me that again and I will kill you," Faith told him, dead serious.

He gulped. "Huh, would you look at that: I think Willow's calling."

And with that he's out of the room faster than you can say, "Dead geek."

They watched him go, Buffy with a slightly disappointed look on her face.

"Aw, can you kill him anyway?"

Faith snickered. "Sorry, B, I would but I don't ever plan on going to jail."

"_I'd like to make a confession."_

Buffy shifts uncomfortably. "Yeah, bad idea, no jail, absolutely not. 'Cause, you know, it's really bad, and uh stuff, not that I've ever been there, no sir-y, or anyone else that we know. Absolutely no-one has gone to jail."

The brunette raised an eyebrow at her in amusement. "I'll take your word for it."

Buffy nodded and turned back to Robin. "Anyway, Faith can't remember anything from like five years ago onwards."

Faith watched as he looked down in slight embarrassment and knew he was remembering how he had hugged her before. The room was filled with silence for a few moments and Faith would have given anything for it to stay that way.

"I'm baack," Andrew sang, appearing in the door way with a pile of flyers.

"Kill him, kill him now," Buffy said.

The geek ignored this and instead went about handing out the flyers.

"I'm sure you'll be happy to know that at 12:00 o'clock we will be continuing our reading of _Gone with the Wind_," he began, handing Buffy a flyer. "A tale of Scarlett O'Hara and the American Civil War." He pauses as he reaches Faith, clearly remembering her earlier threat. After a moment he 

shakily hands her the flyer and takes a hasty step back. Faith rolls her eyes. "The book is an excellent insight into what it was like those many years ago, the wonderful Margaret Mitchell did a fantastic job of capturing history at its roughest."

"Oh great, _history_ lessons, did I mention that I dropped out of high school?" Faith spoke up.

"That might have come up once or twice," Robin said not looking up from his flyer.

"Well, it is your book, you got no-one to blame but yourself," the blonde pointed out.

"Not mine, Giles's. And the only reason I'm reading it is because of my watcher."

"The one who died?" Andrew asked.

He cleared his throat nervously at the glares he was receiving from both Buffy and Faith.

"Yes, well, must be going, flyers to hand out, comics to read and Kennedy wants me to go to the store and pick her up a twinkie."

And once again he was gone.

Faith rolled her eyes and glanced down at her flyer.

_**Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell **_

_**Reading at 12:00 o'clock today.**_

_**Readers: **__Willow Rosenberg, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce and __Krevlornswath "Lorne" of the Deathwok Clan__._

_**For chair bookings see Andrew Wells.**_

_**Flyer Designed by Andrew Brian Wells**_

_Underneath was a photo of a smiling Andrew._

Buffy and Faith shared a look of disbelief.

"God, Faith, I think you've started a trend," the other slayer said.

"I know what you mean, B, G's treating me like a fucking deity, Xan keeps looking at me like I got three heads or somethin', while Texan and the cheerleader kept asking whether I lost more than my memory when that bus hit. Oh, and Pint Size is busy laughing it up along with Special K. Did I do something to make them hate me in the past, 'cause they are showing no mercy?"

"Of course not," Buffy said quickly.

"I mean, all I can remember doing with Little D is the shopliftin' and teachin' how to pickup guys, not the kind of thing that generates hate."

"So that's how she knew how to shoplift," the blonde cried, and then Faith's words finally registered. "You taught my sister how to pick up guys?!"

The brunette shrugged. "Hey, it's not like she actually picked any up, the kid was eleven going on twelve. I just taught her for future reference. Told her to steer clear of the vamps, too."

"Yeah, well, that didn't exactly work."

"You mean she did a _Buffy_ with some vamp?" Faith asked, confused.

"Did a . . . Oh, I am so going to kill you. And FYI my sister has not had sex."

"You sure about that," Faith asked, trying her hardest not to laugh.

"Oh, that's it, it's on," the blonde cried, strutting towards her only to be held back by a chuckling Robin.

"Let go of me! She must die."

"Oh no, are they fighting again?" Xander asked, entering the room.

"Buffy's fighting, Faith's provoking," Robin gasped, struggling against the squirming slayer.

A smirk grew on Faith's face. "B, at least she doesn't where a thong. Although, considerin' the fact that she seems to be takin' after you in the men category the launderette can't be far behind."

"Thong?" Xander asked, as the beginnings of drool began forming at the corner of his mouth.

"OK, hand me a knife, now!"

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"What do you think they're talking about?" Angel asked, looking in through a window at Robin and Faith as they held their private conversation.

Robin Wood had arrived about two days ago and with all the preparation for the big party in three days he hadn't had much time to catch up with Faith. That's where the conversation they were having now came in.

Dawn glanced up from her magazine, slightly irritated at the vampire's constant curiosity. She sat cross-legged on a couch – they seemed to have couches everywhere – on the right side of the hallway. "My guess: battle tactics."

Angel frowned. "You think they're talking battle tactics?" he turned back to the window to look at the serious yet happy looking couple – no, not couple, pair of people. "Well, I guess I can see how one might think that."

Dawn rolled her eyes.

"Wait, what's he doing? Is he touching her? Dawn his touching her!"

The brunette licked her finger and turned a page. "She's a big girl, Angel, I'm sure she can handle some . . . touching."

"Yeah, but it's the way he's touching her."

Dawn sighed and glanced up from her mag, taking a look at the two in the other room. She raised an eyebrow questionably, "You mean how he's brushing the mosquito off her shoulder?"

Angel nodded. "It's downright flirting."

"Really? 'Cause, you know, in some humane cultures it's considered polite."

The vampire continued frowning at the object of his obsession, clearly he hadn't heard her. She rolled her eyes and turned back to her magazine, _Let's see what Angelina's up to_.

"Wait, he's taking off his jacket! And–And he's giving it to her! OK, don't take it, don't take it. Aw, she took it!"

"She's probably cold, what with being in that skimpy outfit and all. I'm surprised she hasn't turned into an icicle already," the youngest Summers muttered absentmindedly, giving up on her mag and getting out her homework.

Angel cocked his head to the side, studying Faith who still remained oblivious to their presence outside their room. "It's not that skimpy."

"It leaves almost nothing to the imagination, and even that's a stretch."

Pause as he continues to scrutinise the slayer.

"And stop checking her out! If you want to make out with her do it already, don't stand around brooding about how crappy Robin is. Especially to me!"

The vampire, finally facing Dawn again, stared at her in gaping astonishment.

"And don't try to deny it; you're a terrible liar when it comes to women."

He frowned. "I don't want to make out with Faith, and what are you doing here anyway? I thought Willow said you usually do your homework up in the study."

"Usually, I do. But it's currently occupied at the moment," she said nonchalantly, biting her lip as she came across a tricky question.

"Occupied?" he asked, happy to be off the subject of Faith.

"Mm hm. Buffy's been doing it all over the place lately."

"W-What?" he stuttered, _Bad subject, bad_.

"You think that's bad, try staying in a room with Will and Kenn for more than ten minutes, the sexual tensions a bitch."

_OK, new subject_. "Why can't you work in the other study?"

"Xander's in there with some girl like half his age doing it like rabbits. Cradle-robber."

Angel's jaw dropped even more, _This could not be happening._

Dawn glanced up at him, taking in his expression. "I know, don't they have rooms? I'll never be able to visit the study again." She shook her head in disgust.

"I-Is everyone having sex?"

"Uh huh," Dawn said with a nod, chewing on her pen and frowning down at her assignment

"Even Andrew?"

"The immortal set him up with these two sluts; they're probably having a threesome as we speak."

"How do you know what a threesome is?"

She ignored him. "I mean, the only ones who aren't having sex right now are us, Robin, Faith and some of the SITs. And, let me tell you, I'm surprised Faith hasn't ripped anyone clothes off yet, still, it's probably best to keep her off slaying for a while. Then again, she's always got Robin." Dawn peaked up at him from behind her hair with a smirk. "Jealous?"

"How do you know all this? Wait, don't answer that, I don't want to know. And why in the hell would I be jealous?"

"I don't know, you tell me," she replied innocently.

"I do not like Faith. Well, I like her but not _like_ her like her."

"Funny how that's the first thing that pops into your mind."

Angel growled. "I. Do. Not. Like. Faith."

"Uh huh, sure," she said, glancing down at her homework before looking back up at him. "What's another word for denial?"

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Faith frowned in concentration, looking over the weapons in the humungous weapons cabinet. Finally, Angel had given up and agreed – after hours of pre-training – that she was ready to go out patrolling. Dreams did come true. With a smirk she looked carefully at the magnificently made weapons and let out a low whistle of approval.

"Damn, a girl could get used to this."

Her eyes were almost instantly drawn to a silver dagger that looked way expensive. Of course that just so happened to be the one that brought about the voices again. Stupid voices.

"_That's mine."_

After a pause she began to study the knife, wondering what was so special about it. A part of her wanted to touch it but the other part was stuck on a sense of foreboding

"Open your present."

Well, she didn't need more of an invitation than that. Almost greedily she struck out her hand and snatched it from its place. Carefully she turned it over, studying every aspect of it. _Damn, it was wicked._

"_There. That look on your face is my reward."_

"_This is a thing of beauty, boss."_

_..._

"_I'm not afraid of you."_

"_Let's see what we can do about that."_

_..._

"_Girls, I hope I don't have to separate you two. Faith, you can play with your new toy later."_

_..._

"_You did it . . . You killed me."_

"_What about you?"_

"_Scar tissue. It fades. It all fades . . . You want to know the deal? Human weakness – never goes away. Not even his."_

_..._

"_Are you ever gonna take this thing out?"_

_..._

"_I told you I had things to do."_

_..._

"_You tried to gut me, bonny."_

_..._

"_I mean, I knew it somehow. I kept having this dream, I'm not sure what it means, but in the dream the self-righteous blond chick stabs me, and you wanna know why?"_

Faith gasped, pulling back from the memory. Tears stung from behind her closed eyelids and she desperately blinked them away. _What the fuck?_

She hadn't just heard voices this time, she'd felt emotions, at their rawest.

She could feel the blade cutting into her skin, feel the blood dripping onto the floor, but even so, it hardly registered. It was actually a sort of relief from the emotional pain she was feeling; she never had been good with emotional pain. Physical pain on the other hand she'd grown accustomed to, even on the occasion grown to think of as a kind of drug.

The harder she tightened her grip around the blade the harder it hurt. And that was fine with her. As long as it distracted her all was good.

"Faith?"

Shit, she forgot that B was waiting for her.

"Yeah, B?" she called out trying to sound casual but failing miserably.

Concerned the blonde entered the room her eyes widening as soon as they caught sight of the dagger in Faith's hand. Quickly Faith subtly pulled her sleeve down a little more to cover the crimson liquid. She didn't exactly think it would go down well if B realized her right arm was covered in blood. After all what could she say? _'Hey, B, sorry about the blood an' all but I was in so much pain, due to the voices in my head that were triggered when I took this dagger, that I had to slice and dice myself to relieve it'_? Yeah, that would go down well.

She could see B struggling with something of her own but after a few moments the blonde seemed to return to normal and plastered a smile on her face.

"You OK?" she asked.

"_Are you alright?"_

"_Five by five. It's that thing about a coma. Wake up all rested and rejuvenated. And ready for payback."_

Faith could tell the smile was forced but, hell, who was she to judge? Her own fuckin' smile was forced. "You know me, B, five by five . . . So, this your dagger?"

"Uh, no. Actually, it's yours," she said, clearly not liking the fact that she had to do so.

"Oh . . . What's it doing all the way over here then, I mean, according to Angel I haven't even been to Italy?"

B shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, uh, you haven't exactly had it for a while. See, you were, uh, stabbed by a, um, a demon and it put you in a coma. Anyhow you told me to look after it and I guess you never got around to collecting it."

Faith could tell that there were some flaws in Buffy's story but she didn't press, quite frankly it explained a lot.

"Huh, gutted by my own dagger. That must have left bruises on my ego."

Buffy smiled in faith amusement though the brunette could still tell it was forced. She smiled back at her, trying to ignore the steady _drip, drip_ of her blood as it hit the tiles. Normal humans wouldn't have been able to hear it but she was a slayer, super hearing sought of came with the gig.

She hadn't realized she'd still been holding onto the dagger so hard, she just hoped B hadn't realized it too.

But alas, that was not the case.

"Faith, is that blood?" the blonde asked, eyes zeroing in on the small pool of blood at the slayer's side and also on the source that was slowly trickling down her fingers.

Damn, she had the worst of luck. Had she smashed a mirror sometime in her life or something? Well, Ok, there was that one small one that her mother had used to hit her with in one of her drunken rages. But didn't that mean that it was her mother who got seven years bad luck, not her. Even if it was her own head that had coincidently led to the mirror's destruction but, hey, not her fault.

_OK, Faith, you're getting sidetracked here_.

"Nah, B, just your imagination," Faith mumbled, pulling her sleeve further down and stepping in front of the pool of blood.

Buffy scowled and headed towards her. "You get worse at lying every year, Faith."

Which still didn't make her a bad liar it just meant that she was getting worse at it.

Reaching her the blonde grabbed her hands, gently but firmly, and held them out. She let out a hiss before pulling the brunette's sleeve further up. They were both shocked, although Faith more surprised, to see the amount of damage and blood. Clearly the dagger was sharper than it looked, and that was saying something.

"Oh. God. Faith. What did you do?"

_Damnit, why couldn't she just leave?_

"Nothing," she muttered, pulling her hand away.

B snorted. "Yeah, and I'm sure Pinocchio did this." There was a pause in which her eyes widened. "It wasn't Pinocchio was it?"

Faith let out laugh and shook her head. The blonde smiled weakly before returning her gaze back to the problem at hand.

"It's gonna need stitches."

Faith shook her head, hiding her hand behind her back. "No big, B, I've got slayer healing."

Buffy shook her head and headed towards a cupboard besides the weapons cabinet. She pulled the doors open, reaching in and grabbing a white box with a red cross on it. "Slayer healing or not, that won't heal over night. It looks as if the knife just missed the bone."

The brunette scowled when the other slayer pulled out a bandage, some antiseptic and a few other essentials. "I'll be fine."

Buffy gave her a look that clearly said, 'Yeah, right' and pulled her hand out from behind her back. The blonde winced at the sight before pulling out the antiseptic and doping some on her hand. The brunette let out a small hiss at the sensation and Buffy smiled up apologetically.

"I don't need your help, B, I don't need you to look after me."

"_Who's going to look after him?"_

"_It's a she. And aren't these things supposed to take care of themselves?"_

"Everyone needs someone to look after them. Even you," was the blonde's only reply, as she began to bandage her up.

Faith didn't say anything as Buffy finished up.

"So how'd this happen, anyway?"

The brunette didn't reply as she took her hand away and ducked her head.

Buffy nodded. "You cut yourself." It wasn't a question but a statement.

Still Faith didn't answer.

"Right, well, since now I know what happened; I'd very much like to know why."

Sighing, the brunette gave in. "I've been hearing these voices in my head, I think they're memories but I can't be sure."

"And the dagger triggered them."

"Yep, except this time it was different. Usually it's like listening to a radio, you're an outsider, you don't really have any real connection to them. But this time . . . I felt it."

"What did you feel," the slayer's voice was calm and even.

"Hate, fear, happiness, relief . . . hurt, a lot of hurt." She glanced down at the dagger in her other hand, shining with blood. "It's the only way I know how to deal."

Buffy nodded, looking not in the least bit surprised (although Faith suspected she was), and put the first aid kit away. "I get that, kinda."

"Do you think they are memories?"

"I don't know; I'm not the one who's hearing them. But they might be."

Buffy thought they probably were which meant that Faith's memory most likely _was_ going to return and she considered for a moment whether to tell the other slayer everything. But immediately decided against it; if Faith was going to get her memory back then she was going to enjoy every moment up until then guilt-free. Speaking of enjoyment there was something she still had to do.

Faith watched confused as an evil grin grew on her friends face. "B?" she asked nervously.

"You know what? We still haven't gotten you a dress for the party. Will, Kenn, Dawn, Fred and Cordy are going out later to pick theirs, I'm sure they won't mind if we tag along."

"No. Fucking. Way." Hell would freeze over before Faith wore a dress.

Buffy's grin grew even wider and the brunette was beginning to feel a little panicky.

"No!"

A/N: Please review.


	7. A little thing called persistence

Disclaimer: I do not own either Buffy or Angel; they both belong to the fabulous Joss Whedon.

A/N: Bit of a fun short chapter here. Thanks for the reviews.

"No." Faith said as Cordy held out a black strapless dress. "No!" she cried when the cheerleader's expression appeared unrelenting.

"Come on, Faith, you'll look great," Dawn pleaded.

"Yeah," Buffy agreed doing a twirl in front of the mirror, her violet dress fanning out around her. "Just, not as great as me."

Faith poked her tongue out at her in reply, something that the blonde returned wholeheartedly. Cordy rolled her eyes and handed the dress to Faith.

"No way you're greater than me," Dawn muttered.

"Little bit," Buffy replied with a smile.

"Try it on," Cordelia ordered, spinning Faith around to face the changing rooms

"Hell no. There is no way I'm wearing a dress."

"Oh, but Faith, you'll look so sweet," Willow protested, pulling a green dress off the rack. "Well, OK, maybe 'sweet' wasn't the best word to use but you get what I mean," she added, seeing the looks on everyone's faces.

"I'm not wearing it," the brunette said with finality.

"Faith, have you ever worn a dress before?" the redhead asked.

"_Wow, aren't you a vision?"_

_An image flashed in Faith's mind of herself in a pink and white dress that made her want to gag. _

Faith shook her head to clear the image.

Willow, taking this the wrong way, said, "See, if you haven't worn one before how can you know it's as bad as you say it is? Have you ever worn a skirt before?"

"Yes!" Buffy and Dawn cried simultaneously before the brunette could even think of opening her mouth.

"There was that time at Christmas in senior year. You were all dressed up when you came over to my place, skirt an' all," the slayer said, looking quite proud of herself for remembering.

Faith scowled and handed the dress back to Cordy. "No."

"Look, just try it on, doesn't mean you have to actually wear it."

After a pause the brunette sighed in defeat and headed towards the change room. "You owe me."

Cordy turned to Buffy and the two shared a high-five while Dawn did a little victory dance in the corner. Kennedy just rolled her eyes and turned to her girlfriend who was sharing a triumphant smile with Fred. Dawn was so enthused in her dance that she didn't see the table to her left and tripped over it, falling face first into the ground.

"I'm OK," the teen gasped, jumping to her feet. Everyone else rolled their eyes. "Just a slight fracture, I'll be fine." Dawn rubbed her sore arm with a wince. "On second thoughts: Buffy, can you slay the table?"

"Why does Buffy have to slay a table?" Came Faith's amused voice.

"Dawn tripped over one, it was very funny," the blonde told her.

Said girl scowled and walked off to go search for a dress.

Willow giggled. "I think you made her angry."

"I'm her sister, it's my job," the slayer replied simply, taking a stunning red dress off the rack and holding it up beside her. "What'd yah think: red or purple?"

The four women looked at her thoughtfully. Finally Cordelia spoke. "Neither. Give the red to Fred and the purple to Kennedy and try this one on." She walked over to a beautiful white dress in the far corner and picked it up, handing it to the blonde.

"I don't know, purple ain't exactly my colour," Kennedy mumbled taking the dress off Buffy.

"Just try it on!" Cordy ordered.

Kennedy rolled her eyes and walked off, Fred scurrying after her. Buffy took one look at Cordy's fiery expression and followed after them. That done the brunette turned to Willow.

"I choose this," the redhead said quickly, nodding down to the dress in her hands.

An unbothered Dawn came waltzing into the room, a cobalt dress in hand. "What do you think? She asked brightly, holding up the dress so the ex-cheerleader could see.

"Perfect," Cordelia said with a smile before pulling out a check list and a pen. "Faith: maybe, Buffy: maybe, Willow: check, Kennedy: maybe, Dawn: check, Fred-"

"Check!" shouted the Texan from inside her stall.

Cordy smiled in delight. "Fred: check," she said, ticking off her name.

"Uh, what about you Cordy?" Willow asked, eyeing the brunette nervously.

"Hmm? Oh I was thinking that gold dress over there." She suddenly frowned. "Faith, what's taking you so long?"

"You try gettin' out of skin tight leather!"

"No thank you," Cordy replied. "And besides, I know that's just a smoke screen. I bet you're already dressed and just don't wanna come out."

"Your point?" Was the only reply.

"Come on, Faith, it can't be that bad," Dawn said, trying to hide a smile.

"Yes," the slayer said, suddenly appearing. "It can."

"Wow, Faith you look..." Willow began.

"Bad, cute, wrong, ugly, something along those lines?"

"Actually, I was gonna say brilliant, but if you insist."

Faith's nose wrinkled in disgust. "It's a dress."

"We did notice that, yeah" Cordy replied with a roll of her eyes.

"I'm not wearing it."

"You'll wear what we say you wear," she replied.

"No."

"Yes."

"No!

"Yes!

"NO!"

"If you don't then that video of you singing back at the Hyperion will have its own little screening in front of everyone at the party," Cordelia told her, with a look that clearly said, 'beat that'.

Faith sucked in a breath, eyes wide. "You wouldn't."

"Oh I would."

Faith growled in frustration before stalking off towards the change room to go change. Buffy, who was just coming out, quickly made way for her. The blonde watched her go with raised eyebrows before turning and making her way towards the others.

"What's her problem?" she asked.

"Cordy blackmailed her to wear the dress to the party," Dawn told her nonchalantly.

"'Blackmailed' is such a strong word, I prefer convinced," the brunette said.

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "What'd you do?"

"I said that I'd show a tape of her singing to everyone at the party if she didn't wear the dress," she replied simply.

"Tape? Singing?" Kennedy asked, coming over to them in a nice purple dress.

Cordelia laughs at the memory. "Yeah . . . See, what happened is-"

"Don't even think about it C!" Faith warned.

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "As I was saying-"

"Cordelia, if you tell them you'll wish you'd never been born," Faith said, suddenly appearing dressed in her usual leather.

The seer contemplated this for a moment before letting out a sigh and giving in. "Oh, alright . . . Hey, you never told me what Lorne said after reading you."

The slayer shifted uncomfortably. "He said he didn't see anything. Something was blocking him."

Cordy's eyes widened, how come nobody had told her this? "Faith, are you sure? 'Cause that's not a good sign."

The brunette sighed. "Yeah, I'm sure. He's got a bunch of theories about why, but you'll have to ask him."

Cordelia nodded, feeling slightly unnerved.

"Um, what are you talking about?" Buffy asked with a look of confusion similar to almost everyone in the room.

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Dawn looked up from her ice-cream at the brunette sitting across from her. The rest of the girls had gone off to do more shopping, Dawn would've gone with them too but had felt that someone needed to stay behind and keep Faith, who had quickly declined, company. And that company involved pigging out on frozen goodies at an ice-cream shop.

"So, will you go out with Angel?" the youngest Summers asked bluntly.

Faith, who had just taken a sip from her soda, choked in surprise.

"What?" she gasped, finally getting her choking under control.

"Will. You. Go. Out. With . Angel," Dawn repeated slowly, as though talking to someone of little intelligence.

"Dawn for starters: I don't date. And even if I did date there's no way I'd do it with a vampire."

"Buffy did."

"I'm not Buffy!"

Dawn was taken aback by the fierceness in the slayer's eyes; clearly this was a touchy subject. "OK, OK . . . Anyway, it's not like he's evil or anything, he has a soul."

Faith's eyes darkened. "Having a soul doesn't make you good." She'd learnt that one the hard way.

"Sure it does. When Angel has a soul he's good, when he doesn't he's bad."

"No, it doesn't. A soul doesn't make you good, it just makes you who you are," she told her.

Seeing the confused look on the teen's face Faith continued.

"Put it this way, there are two parts to every vampire –The demon and the soul. Take Angel for example: Angelus is the demon, Liam is the soul. The only reason Angel is good when he has a soul is because Liam isn't bad."

Dawn pondered her words, surprised that they actually made sense. "But, what about Spike? If the demon and the soul are two different things then how come they both loved Buffy? How come they both had pretty much the same personality?"

"Way I see it, Spike can't love anyone, only Liam can."

"But Spike loved Buffy, he went and got a soul for her," Dawn protested.

"Spike didn't love Buffy, Spike didn't love Drusilla, William did." Dawn sent her a confused look. "How do I explain this? See, I reckon William was always inside of Spike, giving him the humanity that you guys saw in him. Giving him the ability to love. When Spike went and got a soul, over the years the two had become so similar that when William was fully awakened in his body they became the one person . . . That's just what I think anyway. 'S not like I've actually met Spike or anything. Have I met Spike?"

Dawn nodded. "And, I think, you might be right. How long have you been thinking about the whole meaning-of-souls thing anyhow?"

Faith shifted uncomfortably. "Since I was kid actually. I kept wondering why if people were supposed to have souls or consciences or whatever you wanna call it and they were supposed to make you good, then how come they didn't. At least not where I was from anyhow."

There was a pause in which the younger brunette debated about whether to ask the slayer about her home-life. It was something that was quickly shot down by the reminder of how defensive Faith 

was. _No, better to just leave those questions for Buffy or Angel, maybe Giles_. Dawn grinned evilly to herself, _Not like Faith was gonna kill them for asking or anything_.

"Yeah . . . Um, you do realize that you haven't said a thing about not going out with Angel because you don't like him."

The brunette gave the teen a light punch on the arm.

"Ow," Dawn said, rubbing said arm. "Well, you didn't."

"Not my type, D," but despite her words there was a slight smile on the older woman's face. Dawn smiled too.

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"We're back," Buffy called, stepping into the house along with the rest of the girls.

"Oh thank god," Giles sighed, appearing out of nowhere.

"What happened?" the blonde asked, trying to keep back a smile.

"Don't even get me started," the British man said. "Honestly, I thought it would be the party that caused the trouble but, apparently not."

"Again I ask question."

"I mean, they didn't even think to inform me," he continued, apparently oblivious to the fact she had spoken. "Something of this magnitude, and no-one bothered to tell me. Now does that sound right to you?"

"Well if I actually knew what you were talking about..." the slayer trailed off, raising an eyebrow.

Before Giles could answer they were interrupted by a loud crash from the other room. Everyone shared a look before running in the direction of the sound.

"..No seriously, I mean it, how was your holiday?" Angel asked, getting up from his sprawled position on the ground.

A teenage boy with brown hair sneered, getting into a fighting stance. "Great," he said, landing a punch on the side of Angel's face. "No vampires at all." he kicked him in the gut. "Well, at least none with souls."

Angel smiled. "Wonderful," he said, before knocking the boy into the wall. "Good to know you had a great time."

"Yeah, it was brilliant," he replied, executing a sharp right hook.

Everyone watched the performance in shock, everyone that is except Cordelia. Whose eyes were trained on her nails, seemingly unbothered. "Men," she muttered, as if this were an everyday occurrence.

"Hey, watch the good china!" Willow squealed as Angel was thrown into the wall, mere millimetres away from a cabinet that seemed to have very expensive things in it.

Cordy heaved an exaggerated sigh. "Oh I give up . . . Connor you stop that this instant!"

The boy came to screeching halt and turned around to face the seer, a sheepish look on his face. "Sorry Cordy."

Cordelia turned her scorching gaze on Angel who was busy picking himself off the floor. "Sorry Cordy," he mimicked once he was on two feet, hanging his head in shame.

"Why we didn't just call you in the first place is beyond me," Giles muttered as Andrew appeared from his hiding place behind a bench.

The kitchen was looking very much trashed.

"We weren't hiding, absolutely no hiding here," Xander announced as he and Oz walked out of the pantry.

Oz raised an eyebrow at him. "Yet the resemblance is striking."

Xander elbowed him. "I'm trying to defend our manliness here."

Oz remained calm. "A real man always knows when to hide."

"This was the trouble you were talking about?" Buffy asked, turning to the watcher.

"Part of it yes."

"Who's the kid?" Kennedy asked.

"I'm not a kid!" Connor exclaimed automatically.

"_The kid has a name."_

"_Connor."_

"Sure you are," Fred said brightly.

"If he's a kid then I'm a kid, and that's just . . . wrong," Dawn piped up.

"Deal with it, kid," Faith said, showing no sign of her earlier a-memory-but-maybe-not-a-memory-thingy (as she'd dubbed it).

The youngest Summers pouted adorably but didn't say anything more.

Kennedy was starting to look nervous. "Twenty means you're not a kid right?"

Faith snorted. "God I hope so."

"So, not to be rude or anything but, who are you?" Buffy asked Connor.

Many of the room's occupants looked like they wished they could be anywhere but there, clearly they weren't too happy with revealing to the blonde slayer that the love of her life had had a child with someone else.

"Connor is Angel's son," Faith told her, seeing as no-one else was going to do it.

The brunette had to stifle a laugh at the comical look on the other slayer's face.

"That's it. You. Me. Other room. Now," Buffy ordered, pointing to each thing in term and exiting the room.

Angel, looking like hell would be a trip in Hawaii right now, followed after her, doing a rather impressive walk of shame.

"I still can't believe no-one bothered to inform me that two vampires had succeeded in creating life," Giles muttered, only to be ignored by pretty much everyone in the room.

"Faith," Connor said happily as his eyes fell on her. "It's good to see you again."

"I'd like to say the same but I can't exactly remember you."

"Oh I know, Angel told me," he said with a warm smile.

"You got all that out in-between punching and kicking?" Cordelia asked surprised.

Connor nodded, looking quite proud of himself before turning back to the slayer. "Anyway, It's great to see you, and, if you need any help trying to get your memory back just ask."

Faith nodded trying hard to hide an amused smile.

"Oh, this is ridiculous. He's just like his father. Not only are the fighting moves, the sneer and the forehead thingy genetic but he also has the same taste in women," Dawn commented, looking annoyed.

"'Same taste in women?'" many echoed simultaneously.

"Hey, wouldn't it be funny if he started making moon-eyes at Buffy," Willow said with a smile.

"Hey, 'him' standing right here," Connor announced.

"Besides, it's not like that's the only woman Angel has eyes for," Dawn said, casting a discreet glance at Faith who gave her a sharp poke in return.

"What do you mean?" Xander asked.

"Oh nothing," the teen told him with a smile.

"Don't worry about it Xan, she's delusional," Faith assured him, swinging an arm around Dawn's shoulders and smiling in a mix of amusement and fondness for the girl's persistence.


	8. Prelude Party Problems

Disclaimer: I do not own either Buffy or Angel; they both belong to the fabulous Joss Whedon.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I know this is just a short chapter but I felt like stopping it there. I'll try and update soon.

"She's not coming out is she?" Buffy asked Willow as the redhead exited Faith's room.

"A definite no," her friend replied with a shake of her head.

"Huh," the blonde said. "I was kinda hoping we wouldn't have to sic Cordelia on her. Don't wanna get caught in the crossfire of that."

Willow nodded in agreement. "I know what you mean."

The redhead was dressed in a beautiful green ball gown that brought out her eyes. Apparently the party's theme was medieval since, according to Buffy, it seemed the most demonic-like. Buffy herself was dressed in a white costume Cordelia had picked out for her at the shop, and in her opinion it looked more like a wedding dress than a party one. It was something that the blonde had refrained from mentioning to the ex-cheerleader though for fear of her life.

The two glanced nervously down the hall as if expecting the fiery brunette to come marching towards them that very second, asking why Faith wasn't out of her room yet.

"Let's just wait a few more minutes before telling her OK?" Buffy suggested.

Willow nodded wholeheartedly, eyes wide in enthusiastic agreement.

Two minutes later and Faith still hadn't made any sign of leaving the room.

"Faith, get your butt out here!" Buffy ordered.

Her only reply was a muffled, "Go to hell, B!"

"This isn't working," Willow noted.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," came Xander's sarcastic voice.

The two spun around to see the one-eyed man standing in the doorway to his bedroom.

"Xander?" Buffy hissed in surprise. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to know that I'll probably never be able to tease Faith about the fact that she wore a dress to the slayer party." He shook his head sadly. "A good dream's getting ruined here guys."

"I think it's time we got Cordelia, otherwise it'll be dawn before we get Faith out of her room," Buffy noted, not looking at all thrilled with the idea.

"Or, we don't," Xander said hopefully. "There are lots of people out there that I'm sure can handle Faith. Woody and Deadboy for example."

Buffy allowed herself to grin for a moment before shaking her head. "Nah, I don't think that's such good idea. Sending two males into Faith's room, for all we know she could be naked in there." The blonde suddenly turned to the witch beside her. "She's not naked is she?"

Willow shrugged. "She wouldn't come out of the bathroom when I was in there, so, yeah, probably."

Xander for his part was practically drooling by now. "Not really seeing the big problem ladies. In fact, skip the vamp and the principle and I'll go in there instead."

Buffy grinned. "Sorry Xand, don't think we can afford to lose that seven minutes."

"Hey, take that back," he replied before shifting uncomfortably. "And, it's not like I was going to do anything with her, been down that path already, and, uh, so not attracted-"

Willow and Buffy just stared at him identical looks of amused disbelief on their faces.

"And you're not buying this at all are you?" Xander said, breaking off.

"Not a bit," the blonde replied.

"Your acting skills are surprisingly deficient," the witch confided, smiling brightly.

"And he speaks quite loud too!" came a shout from inside Faith's room.

Willow and Buffy shared a look while Xander's eyes widened in horror.

"Oh God."

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Xander stood anxiously in the kitchen, hoping to put as much space between himself and Faith's room as world-y possible.

"Hey, Xander, can I speak to you for a sec?" Robin asked, entering the room.

The one-eyed man jumped in surprise and turned to face the ex-principle. "I swear I didn't touch her!" he cried in a state of panic.

Robin Wood couldn't have looked more confused if Xander had suddenly rolled over on the kitchen floor and let out a dog-like bark. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," Xander said, a little too quickly, realizing that Wood had no idea about what he had said outside Faith's room while in the presence of his two best friends.

"Right," Robin said, drawing the word out. "Anyway, I just came here to tell you that Giles is looking for you, something about distracting Andrew..."

"Right, yes, so I will go to him then," Xander said nervously, backing away. "Where I am in no way near any slayers by the name of Faith, just in case you were wondering. Which you weren't, 'cause never have I ever been anywhere near Faith or had any appropriate thoughts about her."

Robin watched in bemusement as he rushed out of the room.

Xander for his part had made a new plan: stay away from Faith (in case she finds the urge to hit you), stay away from Robin (in case he finds the urge to hit you – Xander was still unsure about whether or not the two were dating) and stay away from Angel (in case he finds the urge to hit you for saying and thinking inappropriate things about the girl the vampire had come to think of as a little sister), possibly get everyone drunk and plant ideas of an orgy later on. The last part had some flaws in the area of whether Xander would survive everyone's reactions afterwards. If worse came to worse he would flee to Mexico.

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"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

Willow and Buffy watched Cordy and Faith as they continued their one-word refusals the way one would watch a tennis match. Cordelia and the slayer had been trading insults for all of about ten minutes and then had lapsed into the pointless yes-no game.

Buffy nudged Willow in the side. "How long do you think this will go on for?" she whispered.

The redhead just gave her a helpless look that had the blonde swallowing fearfully.

"Oh, look at this tape-y goodness I have right here," the seer said, pulling a cassette out from behind her back. "Just waiting to be watched by the entire house."

And that was it; Cordelia had pulled out the big guns. Everyone knew the battle was over even before Faith spoke.

"Whatever," she said, scowling before going to get changed.

Buffy and Willow blushed uncontrollably when the brunette showed no sign of going into the bathroom to change and began lifting up her top.

"Right, well, we'll be outside," Buffy said, forcing a smile and dragging both Cordelia and Willow (who had unconsciously been eyeing the brunette's chest as the top was completely removed) out the door.

Once the door was shut Buffy turned to face her companions. "Does she have no sense of decency?!" she hissed.

"I can hear yah, B," came a far too amused voiced from the other side of the door.

"Shut up and get back to what you're doing, F," Buffy shot back, _Damn that slayer hearing_.

There was a chuckle on the other side but other than that nothing.

"God I hate her."

"Buffy, you said that about her last week and then two days later you were talking like you were the best of friends," Cordelia pointed out.

"And then there was the week before that, and the week before that, and the week before that, and the week before that..." the redhead trailed off at the looks she was receiving from her two friends.

"Willow, we've only been here a week," Cordy told her.

The redhead blushed. "Yeah, well, I'm talking about when she was staying with us after Sunnydale became a big lonely crater."

"Anyhow," the seer said before turning to Buffy.

"OK, I get your point. But it's true, right now I hate her, tomorrow I'll like her – or possibly in twenty minutes – it's not that hard to understand."

"Buffy-logic is always hard to understand," Faith commented, her voice still muffled by the door.

Buffy glared at the door but didn't say anything.

"I'm starting to think that you guys might be sisters, you sure act like it," Cordy said.

"HELL NO!" both slayers exclaimed at the same time.

"Shish, it was just an idea," the ex-cheerleader muttered with a roll of her eyes.

"A very _bad_ idea, very, very bad idea," the blonde told her, looking as if someone had just said the world was about to end. Again.

"Aw, B, I'm offended."

"Like you wouldn't say the same," Buffy replied.

"You're right, I would. 'Specially with all the stories Baby D's been telling me."

Buffy eyes widened in horror. "Stories? What stories? 'Cause if it's about the peanut butter and Mrs Figg that was so an accident, and I swear the bathrobe was firmly in place."

There was a distinctive chuckle on the other side of the door. "Relax, B, I'm kidding."

The blonde blushed in embarrassment and turned to face the two other girls who were smirking at her.

"So, Buffy, Peanut butter? Mrs Figg? And did I just hear you say bathrobe?"

Buffy groaned, _Damn Faith, damn her to hell_.

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Willow, Cordelia and Buffy sat cross-legged against the wall outside Faith's room. Buffy glanced down at her watch and sighed, the party was going to start in twenty minutes.

"She's not coming out is she?" the blonde asked in dejected tone.

The redhead and brunette glanced over at the door, looking equally dejected. "Nope."

"Maybe we should go in and see how she's going, convince her to come out?" Will suggested after a pause.

"Yeah, but, what if she's naked?" Buffy asked, not in the mood for being scarred for life by Faith. "The girl sleeps in the nude, Will, you can't trust her."

"Don't worry about that, Buff, we're all girls right?" the witch said, looking a little too eager at the idea. Buffy and Cordy shared a look.

"Yeah, right, OK . . . I have to say I'm with Willow on this one Buffy. How else are we going to get her out," Cordy said after a pause.

Buffy shrugged helplessly, not liking the idea at all.

"Wait, what if she's locked the door?" Will asked.

The seer frowned in concentration.

"Ooh ooh, I know, I'll just do a spell," the redhead announced excitedly, then suddenly frowned. "That is, if I knew a spell to unlock doors."

Cordelia went back to looking thoughtful. "Buffy could always kick the door down."

Said girl's eyes widened. "No, absolutely not. I'm not gonna ruin my own door, those cost money to repair you know."

The two girls sighed and went back to their planning. After a pause the blonde began to slowly edge her hand towards the door knob, smiling in satisfaction when it turned without resistance and allowed the door to swing open a few cracks. Smiling in delight she got to her feet preparing to stroll right in and kick Faith out, only to realize that her friends were still in the middle of planning a few feet away, oblivious to what the slayer had accomplished. Buffy rolled her eyes in annoyance before clearing her throat impatiently.

Cordy and Willow spun around to face her in surprise.

"The door was unlocked," Buffy told them, gesturing towards the open doorway.

Cordy nodded, climbing to her feet and entered the room, followed by a rather sheepish looking Willow.

"Um, if this is Faith's room an' all, isn't she supposed to be in it?" the redhead said, voicing what they'd all been thinking as they looked around at the empty room.

"I'm gonna check the bathroom," Buffy announced, heading towards said room.

After about a minute she came back looking thoroughly pissed. "She skipped out on us!"

"A total Faith thing to do," Willow said with a nod as though she had been expecting it all along.

"Don't worry," Cordy suddenly said with an evil grin on her face. "I was prepared for this. That gal ain't making it out past the gates."

Buffy didn't know which to be more concerned about, the fact that Faith had ditched them about fifteen minutes before the party or the fact that Cordelia's plan may very well get someone killed.

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"Angel, Put me down!" Faith shouted for the billionth time that night as the vampire carried her back from the huge white wall surrounding the Summers' mansion.

The slayer was swung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, kicking and screaming all the while. Cordelia definitely owed him for this.

"Angel, if you don't let me go this instant I swear I'll-I'll-"

"What?" Angel asked. "If you haven't noticed you're not exactly in the right position to be making threats."

"I'll stake you!" Faith finished, looking like she would very much enjoy doing just that.

The vampire resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "With what?"

She scowled already knowing he had a point. Well there just left one thing to do.

"Angel, I'm only gonna tell yah this one more time. Put. Me. Down."

He ignored her and with a growl of frustration she brought her razor sharp nails down on his cheek, scraping them across like a knife. Angel gave a shout of surprise and instantly dropped her, Faith already prepared for this landed on her feet. Without missing a beat she sprinted off, not exactly sure in which direction she was going.

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Buffy, Willow, Dawn and Cordelia stepped outside the front door, intent on getting away from the crowed shoebox that was the Summers' house. The party had started about five minutes ago and there still wasn't any sign of Faith.

With a sigh Buffy fixed her eyes on the large fountain in the centre of the yard. A small angel in the middle was holding a horn or something resembling one that had water shooting up out of it. Buffy had to admit that the house she lived in now was the most magnificent one she'd seen in her life. The garden was perfect, stocked full of expensive flowers and completed with wonderfully crafted hedges. She loved it.

A shout to her left had her head (along with everyone else's) swinging around in surprise. They watched the scene before them in a way one would watch something that is simply too bizarre to put words to. Willow had her head cocked to the side as if trying to see whether from a different angle the scene might make sense. She was having about as much luck as the rest of them.

Faith was running full pelt across the lawn, a pissed looing Angel hot on her heels. Buffy was glad that the brunette had actually changed into her dress before she'd done a jail-break, which meant that when she was caught all they'd have to do was fix up her hair, which was in its usual messiness.

The blonde leaned in towards Cordelia, eyebrows raised. "Your preparation I assume?"

"Hey, it worked didn't it? It's not liked she's halfway across the globe, we may just get her to the party and on the dance floor by 10."

"If he can catch her," Buffy noted.

So far Angel was gaining ground but whenever he'd get within two feet of the brunette she'd perform some tricky manoeuvre and he'd be brought back to square one.

"Oh this is great, just what my movie needs," Andrew announced happily, holding up a video camera.

Buffy looked at him in surprise, _When did he get here_? And she wasn't exactly sure how a tuxedo clad Angel playing cat and mouse with Faith was just what his movie needed. Even if it was pretty hilarious.

"Ah, got yah."

Buffy turned away from the geek to look once more at the amusing spectacle, and sure enough about ten feet away Angel was holding a squirming Faith in his arms. _Wow, she's not giving up_.

"Right, now that that's settled I think we'll start with your hair," Cordy announced, studying Faith's appearance.

The brunette let out a sigh of defeat. "I tried."

"That you did. But did you have to scratch me?" Angel asked, rubbing three bleeding claw marks on his cheek.

"It was fun."

Next: The party and a little game of truth and dare.


	9. The Truth

A/N: Here's the chapter, sorry it took so long to update.

"Look can't I just wear some pants and a top instead, no-one will notice," Faith asked as she was dragged out of her room after Buffy and Cordy had tended to her hair.

"Tape," Cordy replied, holding up said object.

Faith scowled but didn't say any more.

Buffy smirked. "You're not scared are you?"

Faith snorted. "Me? Scared? Never. I just don't wanna wear a stupid dress is all."

"A stupid dress that looks absolutely stunning on you," the blonde pointed out. "Well, not as stunning as it would look on me but still stunning."

Cordy and Faith rolled their eyes in unison.

"Anyway, what do I get as a reward for doing this?" the dark slayer asked.

"Permission to get totally drunk," Buffy told her.

"Let's go then," Faith said, grinning.

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Faith downed the drink in her hand; she was taking Buffy's suggestion to heart. Although, she was having a hard time getting drunk, whether it was because of a slayer thing or just a Faith thing she didn't know. Either way it sucked, how else was she going to forget the fact that she was wearing a dress in front of everyone not to mention the fact that she'd been beaten by the Scoobies. And it'd be just her luck if she ended up getting a hangover despite everything.

Her eyes scanned the dance floor that was packed to the rim in spite of the fact that the Ball room or whatever they were in was large enough to house an army. Buffy really didn't hold back when bought this place. Most of the people dancing were slayers but there were some witches from the coven and a bunch of warlocks and demon hunters that the gang had come across god knows where. Most of the younger watches were dancing too. Over to her right Buffy was dancing with her new boy-toy the Immortal or was it the Immoral, one of the two – Faith gave them a year, tops. Will and Kenn were dancing about five metres away near Xander and his new girlfriend; a slayer named Ashleigh. Who, although she had taken time to assure everyone she nineteen, was as short as a thirteen year old – probably the reason why Dawn kept calling Xander a cradle-robber. Faith had thought she was fourteen when they had first met.

About five seats down from where Faith sat at the bar (yeah, they had a bar!) were Cordelia and Fred. Fred looking as though the floor was becoming a very inviting bed to sleep on, probably due to 

the fact that all she'd been doing for the last hour and a half was dancing with Wesley and Gunn who had each been taking turns asking her. She eventually had to make up some excuse about not being able to feel her legs anymore – which was probably true – so as to take a breather.

Faith had danced with a few people a couple of times but slow dancing wasn't really her style, so then came alcoholic goodness. The only person she had enjoyed dancing with was Robin but not in a girlfriend-ly, boyfriend-ly way, just as friends (which was all they were). There was something very comforting about his presence, the way someone may feel around a big brother or something. It was nice.

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Dawn frowned in concentration, watching as Faith tried to get drunk and Angel went about brooding over in the corner. Something had to be done about it. She nudged Connor who stood beside her.

"You're gonna help me with something," she announced.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I am? With what?"

"We're gonna get your dad to dance with Faith."

"What's in it for me?"

Dawn shrugged. "Put it this way: if they have sex and he loses his soul you'll probably get a chance to stake him."

Connor smirked. "Count me in . . . So, what are we going to do?"

Her eyes widened. "Do? You mean as in the actual sense of knowing what to do? I have to actually have thought that far ahead? I can't just, plant suggestions?"

"I'd say we should start with convincing Angel to ask her to dance."

Dawn frowned. "Oh. I actually knew that."

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"Angel, buddy, how's it going?" Dawn asked, taking a seat beside the vampire on his left.

"Not too happy I hope?" Connor added, taking the seat on his right.

Angel glanced up at them in confusion. "What do you want?"

"Want? What makes you think we want something?" the youngest Summers asked, feigning innocence.

"We want you to ask Faith to dance," Connor announced, receiving a sharp elbow in the ribs from Dawn.

"I'm trying stealth here, Wacko!" she reminded him.

"You want me to ask Faith . . . to dance?" he asked.

"Yep, that about covers it," she replied and then for good measure, "Please."

Dawn could tell by the look on Angel's face that it was going to take a little more to convince him. So, with that thought in mind she decided to pull out the big guns.

"If you don't I'll stake you."

Angel's eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't."

"No," she nodded towards Connor and he pulled out a stake. "But he would."

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Faith looked up from her drink in surprise to see an uncomfortable looking Angel standing before her.

"What'd you want, Soulboy?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Um, would you uh," he scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. "Would you like to dance?"

Faith's eyebrow nearly reached her hairline. "Sure." _This could be funny_.

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Dawn clapped her hands excitedly as Angel led Faith onto the dance floor. "Finally."

"Do you think they'll kiss?" Connor asked sounding repulsed by the idea of his dad making sucking-face with someone.

Dawn cocked her head to the side, watching as Faith acted totally Faith-like by teasing the hell out of Angel. The poor vampire didn't know what to do. "I doubt it. I reckon we'll be lucky if she doesn't end up staking him."

"_You'll_ be lucky, I'll be disappointed."

Dawn grinned for a moment before a scowl suddenly came over her face. "Buffy's gonna kill me."

Connor frowned in confusion. "Why's that?"

"Well, wouldn't your dad kill you if you set up the love of his life with someone else?"

"You're right, you're dead."

The brunette's scowl deepened. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

He remained unbothered. "That's what I'm here for."

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Faith smirked at the nervous look on Angel's face as he began to dance with her, if you could call it that when he was like three feet away. She rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand to pull him closer.

"Don't worry, I don't bite," she told him with a grin. "That's your job."

The vampire swallowed as Faith moved his hand to her waist. Her grin widened as she took in how much she was making him squirm. _Definitely funny_.

"Let me guess, you had a talk with Baby D?" she asked.

Angel's eyes widened. "How did you know?"

The slayer nodded at something to her right. "'Cause her and your kid are watching us like we're some kind of science experiment."

Angel followed her gaze and sure enough Connor and Dawn were standing side by side watching their every movement painstakingly. He almost expected her to whip out a clipboard any moment and for Connor to put on a pair of glasses. It was very unnerving.

"Aren't there laws about watching people?" he asked, starting to feel slightly more comfortable around her.

Faith shrugged. "Tell that to the council. And I'm more worried about the way Buffy's watching us."

"Buffy's watching us?" Angel asked, surprised, as he scanned the humongous room.

Eventually his eyes fell on the blonde slayer, her hand attached to the Immortal's arm as they made their way off the dance floor. She watched Angel and Faith in the way one would watch (if it ever happened) a goldfish out of water dancing with a cane and a top hat. At the moment she looked too shocked for anger to sink in (which there shouldn't be any of, since he and Faith were just dancing, as friends).

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"Um . . . Uh . . . Do you wanna dance?" Connor asked nervously.

Dawn smiled brightly. "Sure, it's about time you asked."

It was at that moment, as he led her onto the dance floor, Connor decided that girls were very strange creatures and that he'd bow down to anyone who managed to even partly understand them.

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Angel didn't know how long he'd been dancing for but somewhere along the way Faith's head had found its way to his chest and was now resting there as they moved slowly to the music. Her eyes were closed and she had a look of peace about her that he knew would soon shatter, it always did. He could smell the alcohol coming off her in waves and wondered just how much she'd drunk. She didn't seem too tipsy but then again Faith had never been much of a lightweight.

The vampire couldn't help but think about how good it felt to have her this close, much as he tried to deny it. And when she pulled away it was almost too soon.

"Oh look, D and the kid are dancing," she said, looking a little uncomfortable at what she'd allowed herself to do. _Maybe slayers do get drunk_, she thought idly.

Angel's head swung around in horror. "Bu-But he's only a kid, he shouldn't be dancing with girls yet."

Faith rolled her eyes. "To you he's a kid – which is understandable since two years ago you were changing his diapers – but to him he's a teen . . . 'Sides, D and C are kinda like a match made in heaven when you look at their past. And technically they're both kids, Baby D's only like three or somethin', hence the 'Baby'."

Angel sighed. "I guess . . . But the two of them together can only mean trouble."

Faith snorted. "You got no-one to blame but yourself . . . after all, you're the one who dated D's sister, and, Connor takes after you. It was only to be expected. Red, X-Man and the cheerleader even had a pool."

Angel's eyes widened. "They had a pool on my son?"

She smiled in amusement. "Relax, Angel, it was only for a bit of fun . . . 'Sides, they're only dancing, I wouldn't be pulling out the wedding invitations just yet."

Angel looked over at Dawn and Connor once again. "Yeah, but, they're touching and dancing."

Faith raised an eyebrow at him. "They've got more space between them than you and me, and we're just friends. I think they'll be fine." Despite her words Faith couldn't help but like the feeling of Angel being so close to her and had to resist the urge to pull his head down to smash their lips together right then and there. She did a pretty good job.

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Xander groaned as he leant back on the couch. "I think I'm dying."

Pretty much everyone had either gone home or – if they lived in the Summers' mansion – gone to bed. The only people who were left up were Xander, Willow, Buffy, Faith, Angel, Dawn, Gunn, Wesley and Cordelia.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you were. What time is it?" Wesley asked, glancing down at his clock, or, at least what he thought was a clock.

Faith snickered. "Wes, that's the collar of your shirt sleeve."

The English man frowned turning his wrist around. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," she replied, trying to hold in her laughter.

"Huh . . . I think I'm quite drunk."

The slayer smirked before turning to the grinning blonde beside her. "What is the time, B?"

Buffy frowned. "Do I look like I'm wearing a watch?"

"There's a clock on the wall," Dawn told her helpfully.

Faith squinted up at it. "Three o'clock."

"Dawn should be in bed," Buffy muttered.

The teen ignored this. "Ooh, we could play Truth or Dare."

"And why would we do that? A bed sounds much more appetizing," Xander asked.

"Because it'll be fun," she replied, then seeing that everyone was a little less than enthused. "Just think of all the stuff you could make people do. Oh, and Willow could do a spell to make sure you tell the truth and if you don't do that or do a dare then you have to," Dawn paused to think about it. "You have to look after Andrew for two weeks _and_ you have to kiss him!"

The brunette slayer smirked. "I'm in."

"Me too," Buffy announced. "And Faith, be afraid, be very afraid."

The slayer poked her tongue out in reply. Dawn turned to everyone else in the room, one by one receiving their nods of approval.

"Excellent."

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"OK, Buffy, I dare you to kiss Andrew, tomorrow morning, in front of everyone," Cordy said from her place in the group circle they had formed.

The blonde's mouth dropped open in mortification. "What? No! No, no, no, no, no! And why does it have to be Andrew? I do have a boyfriend you know!"

Cordelia raised an eyebrow. "Are you chickening out, Buffy?"

The blonde glared. "Of course I'm not, I'm just, you know. Does it have to be Andrew?" At the looks she received from everyone, "Alright, alright, I'll do it."

"Good on yah, B," Faith's face suddenly broke out in a smirk. "This is gonna be so funny, I can't wait."

Buffy scowled and elbowed her in the ribs.

"Your turn Buffy," Xander said after a pause.

The slayer grinned evilly. "I dare Faith to kiss Andrew."

The brunette slayer scoffed. "Very original, B."

Buffy scowled. "Are you gonna do it or not?"

The brunette shrugged. "Sure, it's not like I haven't kissed worser losers in my lifetime."

Buffy gaped, apparently kicking herself for picking something that the slayer didn't seem at all bothered by.

"Right, Xander," Faith said, causing him to nearly feint in horror since throughout the whole game he'd only had one mantra running through his head – _Please don't let Faith pick me, please don't let Faith pick me, please don't let Faith pick me... _

"Wh-What do you want?" he asked anxiously.

She smirked. "I dare you to kiss . . ."

Everyone held their breath in suspense.

" . . . Angel."

"Oh, God no," Xander exclaimed as the vampire's eyes grew wide in horror and Buffy and Dawn rolled about the floor laughing their heads off.

Cordelia was snickering uncontrollably while beside her Gunn and Wesley looked as if they couldn't quite believe their ears. Willow meanwhile was turning as red as her hair, seemingly torn between braking down in hysterics and saving her best friend from a tragic fate. The former eventually won out. Faith merely smirked as she watched their reactions.

"Faith, please, reconsider," Xander begged, getting down on his knees in front of her and holding up his hands in the way someone does when they pray.

"Yes, you're supposed to be punishing Xander here, not me," Angel put in looking as if hell would be a dream come true right about now.

Faith's smirk grew and she shook her head. "Sorry, Angel, two birds with one stone."

"Faith, I'm begging you," the one-eyed man pleaded but the slayer was unwavering.

"No can do X. 'Sides, if you back out of this then you have to kiss Andrew and look after him for two week, which do you prefer?"

Angel allowed a glimmer of hope to enter his eyes while Xander looked as if someone had asked who he'd rather have saved from a bloody death, Willow or Buffy, rather than someone who'd been asked who to kiss.

Finally he sighed in defeat, what the hell had made him agree to play this stupid game anyway. "I pick . . . Andrew."

The vampire let out a whoop of joy quieting down immediately at the looks he received from everyone else.

"Well, damn," Faith said. "Spoil my fun Xander, and here I was thinking you and Angel were a match made in heaven."

"Bitch," he muttered – something that Faith ignored.

"Right, your turn now Xand," Buffy said.

Xander thought hard about what he could do. He very much wanted vengeance on Faith but that would have to wait seeing as you weren't allowed to dare or truth the person that had just done it to you. "OK, I dare Gunn and Wesley to ask Fred out tomorrow. Whichever one of you she accepts is it, the other one has to stop staring moon-eyes at her." It really was getting annoying to watch the two guys fawn over the Texan nonstop.

Gunn and Wesley shared a look before letting out a sigh. "OK."

Five minutes later and it was Buffy's turn. She thought about it for a moment her mind flashing back to something Faith had said. "Dawn," she said dead serious. "Do you still have your virginity?"

Dawn blushed furiously while Faith broke down in hysterics.

"Buffy, do you have to ask that now?" The teen asked through gritted teeth.

The blonde shrugged. "This way you can only say the truth."

Dawn glanced uncomfortably around the room of people, shooting a glare at the laughing Faith. "I haven't had sex yet," she mumbled.

Buffy let out a relieved a sigh. "Thank goodness."

Dawn scowled before turning to face Faith. "Truth or dare Faith?" She asked just to see which one the slayer wanted.

"Uh, dare."

"Right, truth," Dawn said, Faith scowled. "How old are you?"

Faith's scowl deepened, _Of all the things she could've asked..._ "Well, back in Sunnydale I was fifteen, so I guess that would make me 'bout twenty now, right?"

For a moment everyone was silent, gaping at her, then...

"You had sex with a fifteen year old!" Willow exclaimed, slapping Xander's arm.

"Uh, ow," Xander said slowly, staring at Willow accusingly.

The redhead just glared at him while Faith shifted uncomfortably.

"You know, that's not even legal," the Wiccan hissed.

"I'm suddenly feeling very old," Buffy sighed.

"That's 'cause you are, B," the brunette said with a smirk.

"Slut," the blonde muttered.

"Bitch," Faith replied.

"Child."

"Old lady."

Buffy glowered at her, receiving only a smirk. Xander was still suffering from the wrath of Willow who had been joined by Gunn and Wesley.

"Hey, hey, Will, I'm not the only one in the wrong here," he said defensively. "She's the same age as Kennedy."

"Yeah, but I didn't have sex with Kennedy when she was fifteen," the redhead counted.

"Do I even get a say in this?" Faith asked raising a hand.

"No!" Everyone but Dawn said in unison, barely sparing her a glance.

She sighed and leant back up against the wall. This was why she didn't tell people her age, _stupid spell_.

"You took advantage of her," Angel said angrily.

"Hey!" The slayer cried angrily. "No-one takes advantage of me, I make my own choices."

"Yeah, and believe me when I say she was the one who took the advantage," Xander gulped.

"You got that right," Faith snorted, still feeling quite offended.

"See, even she agrees."

"Can we just get on with the game?" Dawn asked, clearly annoyed

"I'm with D on that one, 'specially since you're all talking about me like I'm not here," the dark slayer put in.

Buffy smirked. "Sorry, Faithy, we were just discussing day-care centre."

"Bitch," she muttered, pinching the slayer's arm. "Right, I dare Red to . . . to take off her dress," she finished with a smirk.

Willow's eyes grew wide in mortification. "W-What?"

Faith's smirk grew even more profound. "You heard me."

"I think I'll take the escape code," the redhead muttered.

"Wow, Andrew's sure going to be a lucky guy."

"This sucks," Willow said with a pout. "Right, well, I dare Wesley to . . . to give me a hundred bucks," she finished with a grin.

He gaped at her. "That's not even a dare!"

"Sure it is," the redhead replied. "Come on, hand it over."

Grudgingly Wesley handed her two fifty dollar bills.

"Great, I can buy Kennedy's birthday present with this."

"I'm being robbed by a game," Wesley sighed, putting his head in his hands. After a pause he continued. "Right, Angel-"

"Damn it," the vampire muttered.

"-within the next thirty minutes you have to kiss someone."

Angel gaped at him while Dawn snickered along with Cordelia. "B-But..."

"Sorry Angel."

"Fine," the vampire sighed, looking miffed. "Cordy."

"Mmm?"

"I dare you to go without shopping for two months."

"But Angel," the seer whined.

The vampire just shook his head.

"I guess I'll have to kiss Andrew then," she sighed. "Alrighty, Dawn. I dare you to do truth or dare with Faith and it has to be something big. I'd do it myself but, as much as I hate to admit it, you have a better imagination than me."

"Cool," Dawn said happily while Faith glowered at Cordy. "Payback time."

"I thought we did that already."

"Yeah, but this is even better payback . . . Right, Faith, when did you lose _your_ virginity?"

The brunette had the deer-caught-in-the-headlights look while everyone else seemed quite interested. Buffy was actually quite confused by the look on Faith's face, after all, she was one of the most open people she knew with sex and other stuff that would have the blonde blushing like a maniac within seconds.

"I um – w-well I..."

Buffy's eyes widened at that, _Was Faith stuttering_?

"Come on, Faith," Dawn said with a wicked grin.

The brunette looked down at her feet. "I uh..."

Buffy studied her, trying not for the first time to figure out the other slayer. Her eyes widened as she remembered a few things from the past and everything started falling into place. She wished it hadn't.

"Dawn, drop it," she ordered.

"But-"

"Dawn!"

"OK, fine."

Faith sent the blonde a grateful look while everyone else just looked confused.

"Right, I'll give you a dare then," Dawn decided. "I dare you . . . to kiss Angel."

Angel's eyes widened while Faith, as expected, just shrugged.

"Dawnie-" the vampire tried to protest.

"Hey, you gotta kiss someone anyway, you may as well kiss Faith."

Before he could protest Faith had already leaned forward and planted her lips on his, all thought pretty much went out the window then. She smiled against his lips, before forcefully running her tongue over them, demanding entrance. Without a second's hesitation he accepted and her tongue slid into his mouth. He didn't know how long they kissed for but they were interrupted by Buffy who cleared her throat loudly. Faith and Angel sprang apart as if they had been burned.

"I hope I don't have to kiss Andrew like that," Buffy commented with a grimace.

Angel glanced over at Faith who was looking indifferent and then at Dawn who was grinning uncontrollably. He was going to kill her later.

"I thought you liked the way I kissed, B?" Faith said with a smirk.

The blonde blushed uncontrollably. "Shut up, F."

"Wait, you, and Faith...?" Xander couldn't get any more out on account of the drooling.

Buffy's cheeks turned an even darker shade of crimson. "It was a long time ago, just a onetime thing."

"Long time ago for you, B. Me? Not so much," the brunette said, grinning uncontrollably at the way the blonde was squirming.

"But, uh, Buffy, you're not gay," Willow said hesitantly. "Are you?"

Buffy's eyes widened. "Of course not! Like I said, just a onetime thing."

"Whatever you say, B."

The blonde groaned and buried her head in her hands. "I hate you."

"No you don't you love me," she replied, smiling in amusement.

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Buffy sighed as she finished washing the mugs that the group had drunk hot chocolate from while they were playing Truth or Dare, a game she would never play again. Faith sat beside her on the kitchen bench, her legs swinging back and forth.

"You just had to bring that up didn't you?" the blonde said, scrubbing one of the cups in frustration.

The other slayer smirked. "Xander seemed quite happy about it."

Buffy groaned as she remembered the look on her friend's face. "I'm never gonna live it down."

"There's nothing to live down B, you wanted a good time, you got one. Nothing wrong about it."

"To you maybe," Buffy replied with a smirk.

Faith chuckled and glanced over at the clock on the wall which read 7:00. Earlier on in the morning, before most of what remained of the group had gone to bed, Andrew had come down stairs looking for some pop tarts. You could imagine his surprise when, within a time of sixty seconds, he was kissed by not one, not two but five people one after the other, Faith using up most of the time. It was actually pretty funny although Buffy would have preferred not to have been the giver of one of those kisses. That would have been a bonus.

"So, what was it like kissing Angel?" the blonde asked nonchalantly, pulling the sink's plug.

Faith rolled her eyes. "You know, you're the sixth person to ask me that."

Buffy smiled. "I expected as much . . . But really, what did you think?"

The brunette raised an eyebrow. "It was OK, better than some of the guys I've kissed."

"So, do you like him?" Buffy didn't know whether to be happy for Faith at the prospect or disappointed that Angel might like someone else.

"Not my type, B," Faith told her. "I have a strict don't-do-the-dead thing going for me . . . I'll just leave that part up to you."

Buffy smacked her on the arm, smiling in spite of herself. "You know, you've gotta be the most rebellious slayer I know yet on that one huge rule I'm the one who out does you on it."

The brunette shrugged. "I didn't decide not to break that rule because of being a slayer, I decided not break it because a vampire killed my watcher."

The blonde visibly winced. "Sorry, didn't mean to bring it up."

"T's cool."

"So, have you had any memories/voices lately?"

Faith smiled in amusement at the painfully obvious subject change. "None since Connor arrived," she told her before grimacing. "Which is a relief; really, with all the voices even I was beginning to think I was insane . . . Am I insane?"

Buffy shrugged. "No more than usual."

"I don't know whether to be comforted or offended by that."

"Take a pick."

Faith grinned and jumped down from the bench. "I'm gonna turn in."

"Now? It's seven o'clock."

"Not like I got any sleep last night," Faith replied waving her hand in goodbye as she turned to go.

Buffy took her gloves off and turned around to follow her. "Faith."

"Yeah?"

The blonde bit her lip. She was beginning to notice a few things about Faith's behaviour, little things that were hardly noticeable but when put together painted one hell of a picture. Like when Faith had gone with them to England after the Hellmouth had been destroyed and they'd been watching the news in some hotel room. Well, Buffy had been watching Faith and Dawn had been playing a game of chess. Something that had abruptly stopped when a news report about a woman being raped came on and Faith had fled the room, muttering something about getting a drink. She hadn't come back. And when Buffy had gone off looking for her she'd found her retching in the bathroom. She should have noticed something was up then but had merely passed it off as some kind of stomach bug.

"Um, there's something I have to ask you, and feel free not to answer and such, it's just, I'd kick myself if I didn't ask. Well, not literally since, _ow_, but you get what I mean. You do get what I mean right? Of course you do, 'cause why wouldn't you? Absolutely no reason at all, would you like a pop tart?" Buffy babbled, _Great, now I'm starting to sound like Willow._

Faith smiled in amusement. "Just spit it out, B."

The slayer bit down harder on her lip, drawing blood. "Were you," Buffy paused, trying to grab her bearings. "Were you raped?"

That wiped the smile off Faith's face. For about a minute she stared at Buffy, her expression unreadable. Buffy, after a while, began to think that she wasn't going to say anything at all. But, just as the thought occurred to her, the brunette locked gazes with her, giving one, stiff nod before turning around and exiting the room. Pushing past a wide-eyed Dawn who no-one had noticed standing in the doorway on her way in with an empty bowl of cereal.

Buffy watched the other slayer go, her expression mirroring Dawn's.

A/N: What do you think? Please review.


	10. Truth hurts, so why do we ask for it?

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while I've been real busy.

Xander frowned as he entered the lounge room on the search for Buffy and Dawn who he hadn't seen all day. There was something off about the atmosphere, something depressing. He searched the room, smiling when he found what he was looking for. Well, there was Buffy and Dawn and he was pretty sure he'd found the source of the gloominess.

"Hey Buff, Dawnie," he greeted cheerfully.

His only reply a dull, "Hey, Xand."

Xander frowned. "Hey, what's with all the gloominess? We're not up for another apocalypse are we?"

Buffy and Dawn just looked at him and his eyes widened. "Oh god, it's not really the end of the world is it? 'Cause I'm still reeling from the last time it tried that."

"World's not ending, Xander. World's fine," Buffy assured him although her tone of voice remained the same.

He rubbed his hands together nervously and laughed. "Right, well, I'm just gonna go. Don't wanna be affected by all this happiness, no siree."

"OK," the blonde said.

"You do that," Dawn added.

Xander forced a smile and promptly fled the room, closing the two wooden doors behind him in a poor attempt to keep the rest of the house nice and happy. He spotted Willow standing nearby, cup of tea in hand, and made his way over.

"Tell me, Willow, is it the end of the world?"

The redhead shook her head. "You too, huh?"

"If you are referring to witnessing the gloominess that is Buffy and Dawn, then yes. Me too," he replied.

"I went in there earlier for a read and left pretty soon afterwards," she said with a shake of her head. "It's like someone's cast some big despair spell, I thought someone had died."

"You can do that?" Xander asked, wondering why anyone would want to cast such a spell.

The Wiccan nodded.

"Well, can't you just cast some sort of joy spell or something to counter it?"

Willow shook her head. "No. Maybe. I don't actually know one. And even if I did I probably wouldn't cast it because most likely l'd end up in the same room as them, and that is a world of bad."

Xander nodded in agreement. "What do you think happened?"

"I don't know. They look like their grandma died." The redhead's eyes suddenly widened. "You don't think their grandma died, do you? Oh god, what if she did? And we're all standing around going laddie-daddie-da while they're in their grieving? Oh Hecate, I'm a bad friend, what am I gonna do? What are _we_ gonna do?"

"Relax, Will, breathe," he said, trying to calm her. "Their grandma died a couple of years ago."

"Yeah, but what about the other one?"

"Died when Buffy was two," Xander said slowly.

"Oh, right, I remember. The one with the funny name wasn't it?" she said, sounding very relieved.

"Really, really funny name."

"Hey guys, what's up?" Faith asked coming over to them, dressed in her usual black leather pants and tank top, all traces of her earlier dress gone.

"We're trying to work out a way to deal with the gloom-and-doom twins," the one-eyed man told her.

The brunette frowned in confusion. "The who?"

"Buffy and Dawn," Willow explained. "Hey, maybe you could talk to them."

Faith shifted uncomfortably, remembering the last conversation she had had with Buffy that morning. "No, I'll leave that to you guys," she said before quickly heading off.

"Weird day," he commented, watching her leave. "And getting weirder."

"You don't think she has anything to do with why Buffy and Dawnie are looking all pre-apocalypse like?" Willow asked hesitantly.

"I don' know, she doesn't look gloomy enough."

"She doesn't look cheerful enough either," the redhead pointed out.

Xander chuckled. "Willow, Willow, Willow. I think you're reading too much into this. We're talking about Faith here, what could she possibly've done?"

There was a pause in which the two thought back to the past Faith-drama they'd endured.

"On second thought: let's go talk to her," he told her.

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Dawn sighed for the thousandth time that morning, leaning back in her seat. Beside her Buffy mimicked her actions.

"Why don't you think she told us?" the blonde finally asked.

"This is Faith we're talking about here, when has she ever told us anything?" she replied with a disbelieving look at her sister.

Buffy pouted. "Good point."

There was a long pause in which each woman thought over past events.

"We can't do this," Dawn announced eventually, coming to a decision.

The slayer's brow furrowed in confusion. "Doing what?"

"This!" Dawn gestured wildly to the two of them on the couch. "This pity routine. Faith would totally kick out buts."

"You're right," Buffy said and then her sister's word suddenly sunk in. "Oh god, you're right."

The brunette frowned at her. "Don't be so surprised."

"Sorry, Dawnie," Buffy replied with a small smile. "But you are right. God, I feel so selfish. Here we are sitting around trying to wrap our heads around this whole thing while doing the pity dance and Faith's out there probably feeling worse because of it. We shouldn't have to wrap our heads around it, it's not us it happened to . . . Stupid, stupid, stupid."

Dawn smirked at the last part. "You'll find no objections here." Which earned her a light slap on the arm.

"So, what do we do?" the blonde asked after a pause.

The teen shrugged. "Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing. Faith doesn't want us to do anything – she never does – so we won't."

"But Dawn, we have to help her," she protested.

"No. We don't." Then, seeing the look on Buffy's face, "Look, Buffy, there's a reason she didn't tell us this. And whether or not she does want help she won't accept it. Least of all from us. Don't you think it's daunting enough for Faith with everything else going on? She doesn't want to talk about this Buffy and you know it."

"But she needs to."

"Yes," the brunette relented slowly. "But she doesn't need to now. And how would you know what she needs, Buffy, you never have before?" she cried.

The blonde shrank back at the last of her words, knowing the truth in the statement. After a pause Dawn quietened down, lowering her voice. Deep down she knew that she was taking out everything she was feeling on Buffy but the other part didn't care.

"You were never there for her Buffy, none of the gang was. She was just your back up slayer, called only for battle. When you started thinking about going away to college you decided that it would be an OK idea to dump the slaying on Faith, no asking whether it was OK with her-"

"She loved the slaying," Buffy interrupted quietly, already knowing it was a feeble excuse.

"That doesn't matter! You should have asked Faith, or at least thought about her well being. You complain all the time about how the watchers treat slayers like tools but in the end you were no different to Faith. My memories may be fake and I may not have been around you guys a lot, but I certainly remember that and I know for a fact you can too!" the brunette finished.

Buffy bit her lip and stared down at her lap, knowing full well her sister was right. Dawn sighed and leaned back in her seat, her earlier rage having left her.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"No, you're right," the blonde cut in. Then, after a pause, adding, "Again."

"I'm just full of rightness," she said, trying to lighten the mood.

Buffy shook her head with a smile.

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_Awkward-ess dinner ever_, Dawn thought as she stared across the table at everyone else. It was hard to find one person who wasn't feeling unsure around someone else. Fred was avoiding the eyes of both Gunn and Wesley who hadn't hesitated to ask her out, Wesley telling her a little poem as he did so. The poor Texan didn't know what to say and had promptly fled the room. Faith was doing a good job of being indifferent towards her and Buffy and avoiding them at all possible chances without actually trying to look like she was avoiding them. Angel was steering clear of Faith at all costs, blushing whenever he did happen to run into her. Buffy was staying way from Xander who whenever he ran into her would bombard her with questions on her relationship with Faith. He meanwhile was keeping well away from Andrew who, after the kisses earlier that day, was following him around like a lovesick puppy, Cordy (who was so supposed to be entertaining him for the next few weeks) could barely be found in the same room as the geek. Willow and Kennedy sat at opposite ends of the table after some fight they had had last night, staring off at each other with a glare. Dawn almost expected some tumbleweed to roll past anytime like in the old western movies. Dawn and Connor weren't coming within ten feet of each other after a rather heavy make-out session the night before, both too nervous about the other's reaction to speak to each other. Cordelia was about the only 

person who wasn't avoiding or being avoided by someone. She sat not far away from Dawn, her eyes glistening in a mix of frustration and amusement as she watched the awkward proceedings. Lucky her. Then of course there was Robin who was sitting next to Faith and just looked plain confused.

And then there was Giles who hadn't come down from his bedroom yet since Buffy had finally spilled the beans about his friend, Julia's, death. The teen thought the blonde could have picked a better time instead of the day after a huge party. But, seeing as everyone else was having problems, why not just add it to the mix.

Angel suddenly cleared his throat, looking slightly uncomfortable. "Faith, could you pass the pigs blood?"

Faith nodded distractedly as she reached for the jar of pig's blood that had been put in the centre of the table for some unknown reason when the table was set. She handed it to him, the vampire blushing slightly as their hands touched, stuttering a thanks as he settled back in his seat. Dawn had to roll her eyes, he had it bad.

"So, Buffy, when was it that you decided that you were too strait for life?" Xander asked, receiving many raised eyebrows.

The blonde blushed furiously and glared at him.

"Don't say a word," she warned as Faith opened her mouth to speak.

There was a long pause as everyone continued on with their meal, all looking uncomfortable.

"OK, clearly I missed something last night after I went to bed," Robin said, breaking the silence and receiving a snort from Dawn.

"Did you ever," the teen muttered.

"Did you know that Buffy's gay?" Xander asked conversationally.

"I'm not gay!" the slayer cried for the fiftieth time that day.

"Could have fooled me," he muttered.

"You don't even know what happened," she cried in exasperation.

Faith once again opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by a well-aimed glare.

"And we're back to confusing," the principle sighed.

The brunette slayer sent him a warm smile that had Angel at jealousy's burning point. "You're lucky you went to bed before us, otherwise, you may have been scarred for life. Confusion's a blessing, believe me."

"Faith kissed Angel," Xander told him simply.

Wood's eyes widened as he looked between the slayer and the vampire.

"Hey, only because Dawnie dared me to," the brunette said defensively.

Xander stared at her. "Dawn dared you to kiss Angel, not do the tongue-tango with him."

Faith pouted. "I have method, just because it was a dare doesn't mean I'm gonna be a slacker."

"Women are strange creatures," Connor concluded.

"And the day you learn that is the day you become a man," Xander informed him.

"That still doesn't mean you can have sex though," Angel added quickly.

Connor blushed and looked down at his place.

"Right," Xander said, drawing out the word. "Moving on. Back to what we were talking about earlier actually, Faith, I understand your, uh, reasons but what about Angel's? After all it does take two to tango."

Angel sputtered seeming unable to answer, not that he would've been able to since Faith bet him it.

"He's a man," the brunette said with a shrug, as if it were completely logical. "He can't control his urges, they're built in strong from the beginning."

"Out of the mouths of babes," Lorne commented, entering the dining room.

"Aren't you supposed to be defending our sex?" Gun asked.

"What's to defend?" the demon replied, taking a seat at the table. "And technically, to be a man you have to actually be human. I'm demon. So it wouldn't really be defending my sex would it?"

"Well, no," he relented. "But that still doesn't mean you couldn't help a brother out, you know."

"Face it, Chuck, men are just annoying, horny, idiots," Faith said with a smile.

Gunn looked speechless for a moment, obviously trying to come up with some kind of retort. "So are you!"

Faith placed her hear over her heart in mock offense. "I'm not an idiot."

He raised an eyebrow at the fact that she didn't protest against the other two.

"Right, well, I'll see you guys later," the brunette said with a smile before exiting the room that still had a very uncomfortable atmosphere. Her plate lay abandoned on the table, still half full. She hadn't taken it to the sink since it was Andrew's turn to clean up and he just hated doing that. Complained an awful lot about it too, so she hardly felt any sympathy for him.

"I'm gonna go keep her company," Dawn announced, following after her.

Buffy buried her head in her hands and quickly raised her hand as a sign of protest as Xander opened his mouth to speak. "Don't. Even. Think. About. It."

His mouth closed with a snap. There was no question as to what he was about to say, considering the fact that it had been the main thought on his mind whilst around Buffy and Faith. Also the main thing he spoke about.

"I really don't want to know what happened last night do I?" Robin suddenly said.

"You really, really don't," the blonde muttered.

"All I want to know is why everyone kissed Andrew?" Kennedy commented.

"Is that so unusual?" the boy in question spoke up.

"Yes," everyone said simultaneously causing the geek to sulk.

"Why _did_ everyone kiss Andrew?" Wood asked.

"It wasn't everyone," Wesley corrected only to be ignored.

"I've got one word for you, Robin. Truth. Or dare," the blonde told him.

"That's three words," Kennedy pointed out.

Buffy glared at her. "Is this a school or a house?"

"Well technically it's a slayer boarding school," Willow said, not getting that it was a rhetorical question.

"We're they teach fighting," the senior slayer said dead-panned.

"You realize that's usually frowned upon in schools?" Kennedy said.

"Yeah, I mean look at you, Buff. You were thrown out of school for fighting," Xander told her.

"I wasn't thrown out of school for fighting! I just . . . got into trouble for it, along with blowing up the school gym," the blonde said defensively.

"Well, technically you were thrown out of school for the latter," Willow corrected.

"Cool, you blew up a gym?" Kennedy exclaimed.

"No! Well, yes. But it's not like it was my fault, there were vampires in that gym, I had to do it."

"Oh," the brunette said, suddenly deflating. "Suddenly not so cool."

Buffy looked at her incredulously, clearly not finding the coolness in blowing up a gym and later getting expelled for it so you had to move to a town on a Hellmouth.

"Kenn, did I ever tell you about the time we blew up Sunnydale High?" Xander said, smiling eagerly.

The blonde's stomach twisted at the reminder of graduation and all the terrible things that had came along with it. Faith's coma was at the top of the list.

"And oh what fun it was," she said sarcastically.

"Come on, General, where's your sense of enjoyment?" the brunette slayer asked. "I mean blowing up a school is in everyone's dreams."

"I'm fairly certain it's not in mine," her girlfriend muttered to herself.

"Well I'm sorry if I don't find the fact that to lead the demon into the place where we were going to blow up the school I had to taunt him with the dagger I used to gut Faith, fun," Buffy snapped. "You're right, where is my sense of enjoyment?"

Silence stretched across the room at the blonde's words as she glared angrily down at her plate. Normally she wouldn't have lost her temper like that but at the moment she was on edge about all things Faith. She couldn't even look at the girl without having the brunette's earlier words (or lack thereof) pop into her head.

"Wow, cool down, Buff," Xander said, watching her as if she might suddenly explode.

The blonde didn't answer but stabbed at her food furiously as if it had somehow wronged her in her life.

"Buffy, you mind if you don't slay the plate?" Willow asked. "Those things aren't that nice to clean up."

"Yeah, my thumb still hurts from the last time Faith threw some at the wall," Xander put in.

Robin's brow furrowed in confusion. "Why'd she throw plates at the wall?"

Xander shrugged. "Guess she was just in a bad mood this morning."

"'This morning'?" Buffy asked, eyes wide as she remembered what they had talked about that morning.

"Yeah, Will and I were asking her whether she knew what had you and Dawn all down in the dumps. She obviously did, so we kept bugging her while she was washing the dishes."

"She didn't like that," Willow put in.

"Nope, after a while we realized that it would be for our own safety if we just left," Xander continued.

"And she . . . threw a plate at you?"

"Well, not exactly, no. She waited until we were out of the room before she went all plate crazy, had me and the Willster scampering for the hills with the sound of it."

"Yeah, well, serves you right for being so nosey," Buffy muttered.

"Not nosey, Buffy, just concerned," Xander told her.

"Doesn't mean you had to bug Faith," she grumbled.

"We weren't bugging," Willow protested weakly. "Just asking questions."

"Questions that she didn't want to answer, which otherwise translates as bugging."

"Look, Buff, we just wanted to know what had you and the Dawnster in such a bad mood," Xander told her.

"It's none of your business," the blonde said through gritted teeth. And it wasn't, it was Faith's and if she chose to tell them so be it but there was no Buffy wasn't going to spill when the brunette herself probably didn't even want to.

"What isn't any of our business? Haven't we learnt by now that keeping secrets is not of the good?" he asked.

Angel was unusually silent as he sat sipping his blood, watching the conversation so intently that Buffy had to wonder whether he knew what wasn't anyone else's business. Robin was much the same, brow furrowed in concentration.

"And haven't you learned by now that being nosey results in plate throwing?" she counted, holding up her now-empty plate threateningly.

Xander backed down along with a nervous looking Willow who had been watching the discussion anxiously.

Buffy set the plate back on the table, after a pause pushing it away from her. "I think I've lost my appetite, enjoy dessert," she said before exiting the room.

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Faith looked up from her comic at a loud knock on the door.

"It ain't locked," she called as her way of invitation. She'd learnt long ago never to invite someone in when there was a whole world of vampires out there. The fact that she was just in her bedroom (where vampires could get in if they were already in the house) and the only invite that mattered was at the front door didn't faze her. After all, old habits die hard.

The door creaked open and a smiling Dawn bounced in. She eyed the comic with a raised eyebrow and took a seat besides Faith on the bed.

"Hey, just because it's a comic book doesn't mean I'm turning into a geek like Xander," the brunette said defensively.

"And Andrew, don't forget Andrew," Dawn reminded her, noting with amusement how everyone seemed to forget about him.

"Who?"

"You know, the guy you kissed this morning along with four other people," the teen told her.

"Oh, that guy," Faith said. "Geek's to good a word for him, I prefer psychotic."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "And we all know you're nowhere near that," she said sarcastically.

"I'm not psychotic!" she protested. Off Dawn's look, "Well, not really."

The youngest Summers smiled and handed her a candy cane. Christmas was over three months away and already the stalls were full of Christmas junk, junk that was slowly creeping into the Summers' house. "I noticed you didn't finish dinner."

Faith looked the candy cane over thoughtfully. "So you brought me lovely candy to help rot my teeth instead?"

Dawn nodded. "Normally you'd have to finish your meal first but with the awkward atmosphere that is down stairs I don't blame you for splitting."

"I don't blame me either so I guess that makes us cool," the slayer said with a smirk.

Dawn smiled and rolled over onto her back with a sigh. She stayed like that for a couple of minutes while Faith continued reading her comic whilst munching away on her candy.

"What do you want?" the teen finally asked, staring fixedly at the ceiling.

Sensing more than seeing the other girl's confusion she continued. "I mean, if you could, what would you really want, above everything else," she elaborated.

Faith didn't answer and Dawn couldn't help but think about how strange it was that, technically, Faith was younger – in spirit anyway – than even she was. Two years younger in fact. Dawn had (along with everyone else she was aware of) had to keep reminding herself that although Faith had the body of a twenty year old she had the mind and memories of one who was fifteen. More than once someone had made the mistake of almost saying something to Faith that had to do with her past, the part of her past that she didn't remember and Angel and many others didn't want her to. Xander had made the mistake two days ago when they were watching some movie that had involved some guy being in prison and had asked Faith, "So Faith, are prisons really like they are in the movies?" The slayer had given him a confused look and Xander had immediately recognised his mistake. Turning to Dawn he had tried to cover up his slip. "What do you think Dawnie, I mean you went with Faith and Buffy one time to that ghost infested prison?"

It was a lie, but a lie that seemed to have fooled Faith, at least for the time being. Dawn of course had been forced to make up some elaborate story of a prison under attack from one of the inmates who had been prosecuted there. And how he had killed one of the guards and stolen his body so he could get off the island the prison was on and extract vengeance on those who had voted for his death in the city of San Francisco. She had told them that she didn't really know what a prison was like since that one was abandoned.

Actually it wasn't some elaborate story she had made up and it was a good thing Faith didn't watch _Charmed_. So, OK, it was risky (since Faith could have easily have seen that episode) but she was under pressure! And you didn't see Xander jumping in to help out.

_Right, back to what we're talking about, Dawn. You know, the thing that __**you**__ brought up._

Faith hadn't answered yet, not that Dawn had expected her to.

"I want all the people who I loved that died to come back, and I don't want anyone else I love to die," the teen told her. "Or, at least, I wish I could say goodbye to them. I never get to say goodbye."

For about a minute Dawn could feel Faith's eyes burning into the side of her face as she continued to gaze fixedly at the ceiling. The slayer's sister was beginning to give up hope that she would ever answer. It had been Dawn's plan to find out more about Faith by telling her stuff about herself.

"Well, I don't want something so big. People die I accepted that a long time ago. What I want is to taste the chocolate chip cookies my mum used to make again." The slayer paused. "Not because they tasted real nice or nothin', they really didn't, it's actually got nothing to do with how they tasted but more about what they meant . . . She'd make them on my birthday, always when I got home from school she'd be standing there with a plate of cookies." Faith suddenly smiled at the memory. "I remember thinking she looked so beautiful, like an angel or somethin' . . . She had a drinking problem and was hardly ever sober, but on my birthday she always made an effort to be . . . There was only one time she didn't . . ." the brunette trailed off, eyes fixed on something at the far wall.

"What happened?" Dawn asked. She knew that it was probably the wrong thing to do. Since, with Faith if you got her to start talking about stuff like this then she'd talk about it but if you pushed and prodded then she'd stop and get all defensive.

The slayer's head swung around to look at her as if only suddenly realizing she was there. And, in a way, Dawn suspected that was true. She waited for Faith to say something snide or funny brushing off the talk like she would any other but she surprised her.

"Her boyfriend had just dumped her and she was drowning her sorrows, probably didn't even realize what day it was. I hid in the tiny cupboard under the stairs like I normally did when she got drunk. There was no lock so all I could do was hope that she wouldn't find me, of course hope wasn't usually enough . . ." Faith trailed off lost in thought. "Was this time though. I stayed there for I don't know how long until she passed out. I remember going out and standing beside her drunken form on the couch waiting for her to wake up. I was so angry at her, so, so angry. It was my birthday, the one day that was supposed to be mine, the one day she was supposed to show me she cared. I hated her so much then, really hated her. It was like acid bubblin' in my chest waiting to explode. And when she woke up it did. I screamed, god I screamed, and yelled all the things I could think of, all of what I was feeling. I wanted her to feel it too, feel how I felt. And then the last thing I said to her, I couldn't believe it. I wish I hadn't said it, but what does wishing ever do, right?

"What I want is her cookies, 'cause they showed me that she cared."

Dawn stared at Faith, who was still gazing at the ceiling as if her life depended on it. She couldn't believe that Faith had just told her all that, for a few minutes she had opened up to her. _Faith_ had opened up to her. About something like this no less. Dawn knew that the brunette would go back to being all neutral and defensive about it in a short period of time though.

She couldn't imagine how it must feel to be torn between loving someone and hating them at the same time like, a mother at that. What if Joyce had been the woman Faith was describing? Dawn couldn't even comprehend it.

To change the subject, sensing that Faith was starting to regret her decision of informing Dawn about some her past, Dawn searched for a topic. Finding one wasn't all too hard and it was actually one she wanted an answer to.

"Do you think it makes a difference?"

The slayer looked at her confused. "What?"

"What we do, how we fight. Do you think it makes a difference?

"I mean, we lose all these people. We feel so much pain for this never-ending fight. We save the world, we kill the demons but at what cost? And you know what? Evil's still here, like it has been and always will be. So, do you think it makes a difference, and if it does, do you think it really matters?"

Faith stared at her a moment clearly thinking over her answer. "Yes."

"Why?"

"Because it has to." Faith's voice wasn't the determined-without-a-doubt kind that Dawn was looking for but more of a plea. A desperate hope that all they'd sacrificed – even if most of those sacrifices the brunette couldn't even remember – wasn't for nothing.

A/N:

"I hate you," Faith muttered as she made her way down the stairs behind Cordelia.

"Pfft," the ex-cheerleader replied, waving the comment away.

"I mean it."

"

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"Hey, Buffy?" Robin said, following after Buffy as she left the Dining room.

The blonde turned around to face him in surprise. "Robin."

"Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure, what ya want to talk about?" Buffy asked with false cheerfulness.

"Faith," he told her as she led him into the lounge room where they were unlikely to be interrupted.

Her cheerfulness plummeted a bit. "Oh . . . that 'what'."

He stared at her intently for a moment is they took a seat on the couch, noting the weariness hidden behind her happy exterior. "She told you, didn't she?"

Buffy bit her lip. "If you're referring to that bad thing that happened before she became a slayer, then yes."

"And if you're referring to the way Faith vomits every time something on sexual assault is mentioned, then yes, that is what I'm referring to," he replied, careful not to give away too much just in case she didn't know.

"Really? Every time?" she asked, momentarily distracted. Off Robin's look, "Right, not the point . . . So, when she tell you?"

He sighed. "She didn't, I asked, before she lost her memory that is."

"Same – 'the asked' part not the 'memory' part . . . God, I feel so stupid and selfish. I mean I've known Faith for five years – _five years_ – and not once did something like this occur to me. And you, you've known her for about a year and guessed almost right way!" the blonde exclaimed, burying her head in her hands in frustration.

Wood sighed. "Look. Buffy, you may have known her the longest but I don't think that ever entitles a person to knowing someone better. It may help but it never entitles." His words weren't accusatory nor were they comforting just plain fact. "To know a person you have to actually have to spend the time to get to know them." Same tone of voice although this time Buffy was sure she could feel rather than see the slight accusation in his stare even he was probably trying hard not think it.

The blonde nodded, unfazed, she'd already had the talk with Dawn. "I've already had the talk with Dawn. Well, if you could call it a talk it was more a bite-your-head-off thing. I'm trying to make it better though, make up for what I didn't do earlier. Helps,you know, that Faith can remember things _from_ earlier."

"I'll bet," he said with a small smile.

There was a pause in which they both seemed to be lost in their collective thoughts.

"How did you get over it?" she asked. "How did you look at her not and not remember every time what she told you? How did you move on?"

"I didn't," he said simply.

Buffy nodded, feeling sick to her stomach at his words. Why couldn't anything in her life be simple? She was so suing whoever was in charge the next time she went to heaven? Not that she was going to go there anytime soon. Hopefully. Damn, she probably just jinxed herself didn't she?


End file.
